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Messi Unveiled As World’s Highest-Paid Athlete, Followed by Lebron James, Ronaldo
PSG and Argentina forward, Lionel Messi, has been unveiled as the world’s highest-paid athlete, with Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo made to settle for third place, reports dailystar.co.uk.
As arguably the two greatest of all-time, it is no surprise that Messi and Ronaldo are the two footballers to rake in the biggest amounts of cash. It’s not only their on-field antics that allow them to live lavish lifestyles though, with their incredible marketability allowing for various endorsements to bring in almost just as much money.
The only footballer to join Messi and Ronaldo on the top 10 list is the former’s PSG team-mate, Neymar. There are several basketball superstars raking it in, while some experienced heads from other sports have their big-money deals to thank for their growing net worth.
Forbes claim Messi made well over £100 million in pre-tax gross earnings over the last 12 months.
NBA legend, LeBron James, didn’t have a season to remember on the court as the LA Lakers missed out on the playoffs. However, the 37-year-old keeps on winning when it comes to making money.
James will have picked up a tidy pay cheque from starring in last year’s Space Jam: A New Legacy movie, more success from his YouTube talk show The Shop, and selling and re-investing in various assets.
For Ronaldo, it was a highly emotional return to Manchester United last summer, and his back pocket doesn’t seem to have taken much of a hit either, with his £500,000-per- week still paying the bills.
Now 37, the Portuguese is just as marketable as ever, boasting the most followers of anyone on Instagram with 439 million, and hundreds of millions more on his other socials. Ronaldo earns roughly the same amount on the pitch as he does off it, so even when he does decide to hang up his boots, rest assured the money isn’t going to dry up.
Neymar is clearly a forward thinking investor too, having spent around £737, 000 on buying two NFT’s from the Bored Ape Yacht Club. It’s thought Neymar now owns the most expensive of all 10,000 of the highly sought-after ape tokens, with Ape 5269 costing 189.69 ETH.
Golden State Warriors guard, Steph Curry, is the highest-paid player in the NBA after signing a contract extension last August. The three-time NBA champion makes just shy of £40 million every year thanks to his staggering on-court performances.
But the 34-year-old also clearly knows where to invest too, dabbling in NFT’s and cryptocurrency, like various other sports stars. Curry’s net worth will no doubt have received a boost from a development deal with Comcast NBCUniversal for his production company Unanimous Media.
In sixth position is Kevin Durant, another basketball icon, who earns a healthy salary being the star man for the Brooklyn Nets. But he also makes plenty of dough through his sponsorship with Nike, almost £23 million to be precise, as well as sponsorships from the likes of Coinbase and Weedmaps.
Seventh-placed Roger Federer is the undisputed GOAT of tennis. Federer hasn’t actually played a competitive match in 2022, but he’s still the seventh best-paid athlete in the world. The Swiss has deals with Uniqlo and Rolex and also invested in shoe brand ON.
Boxer, Canelo is thought to have earned around £32 million from his two pay-per-view fights before losing to Bivol.
Canelo has a number of lucrative sponsorships, but intends to build up an empire thanks to his taco restaurants and opening gas stations, while his Canelo Promotions is working with DAZN to put on fights in Mexico.
Tom Brady, who u-turned on his retirement decision, meaning he will be back in action for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2022 season, is number nine on the list. He could be forgiven for thinking seven Super Bowl rings is enough – he certainly doesn’t need the money.
To add on to his investment portfolio that includes an NFT platform, two production companies and a clothes line, Brady is also set to take up a commentator role with Fox Sports. If you were worried he might struggle in his eventual retirement, fear not, as Brady is set to earn over £300m over the next 10 years at Fox.
Nigerian-born Greek basketball superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo (Gani Adetokunbo), is the only member of the list not yet past 30. Fresh from his NBA championship success, Antetokounmpo rounds off the top 10. The Milwaukee Bucks’ two-time MVP agreed a new five-year contract in December 2020 worth a total of £186 million.
The Guardian
The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to cover the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.
The approval followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during plenary on Wednesday.
The committee noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act provides for a total expenditure of N59.99 trillion, representing an increase of N5.25 trillion over the N54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive.
This expansion created a total budget deficit of N14.10 trillion. Of this, N12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded deficit of approximately N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).
In a related development, a motion by Senator Abdul Ningi was adopted, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to intensify its oversight to ensure that the borrowed funds are properly implemented in the 2025 fiscal year and used strictly for their intended purposes.
President Tinubu had on November 4th requested the approval of the National Assembly for a fresh ₦1.15 trillion borrowing from the domestic debt market to help finance the deficit in the 2025 budget.
The President’s request was conveyed in a letter. According to the letter, the proposed borrowing is intended to bridge the funding gap and ensure full implementation of government programs and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.
The Senate has rejected the explanations provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) regarding the ₦210 trillion outstanding against the oil firm.
It came to the conclusion on Wednesday that the money, which had not been accounted for, must be refunded to the Federation Account by the company.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada, which has been on the probe for months, took the decision on Tuesday after the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, failed to turn up at its resumed sitting at the National Assembly.
The session was called to give the NNPCL the opportunity to make clarifications on the answers the company provided to the 19 questions the panel asked the firm about the ₦210 trillion.
Following a review of the operations of the NNPCL from 2017-2023, the committee sighted the unexplained transaction, totaling ₦103 trillion (accrued expenses) and ₦107 trillion (receivables) in the audited financial statements of the firm, prompting it to raise the queries.
After weeks of back-and-forth between the committee and the NNPCL, the NNPCL eventually responded to the 19 questions.
However, at a resumed session, Senator Wadada frowned at the absence of Ojulari, whom the committee said gave no reasons for staying away, consequently rejected the explanations.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, while speaking on the panel’s findings, said the responses were not only unsatisfactory, but were also contradictory.
“NNPC claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables -amounting to ₦210 trillion. On question eight, NNPC’s explanation on the ₦107 trillion receivables -equivalent to about $117 billion -contradicts available facts and evidence provided by NNPC itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this,” he stated.
Wadada further questioned how the firm could pay ₦103 trillion in Cash Calls to Joint Venture (JV) partners in 2023 alone, despite generating only ₦24 trillion in crude revenue between 2017 and 2022.
“Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103trn in one year, when it only generated ₦24trn in revenue over five years? Where did NNPC get that money?
“As far as this committee is concerned, that figure is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The ₦103 trillion must be returned to the Treasury. This will be concluded when the NNPCL appears before us,” he stated.
The committee said it would have been better for the current management of the NNPCL to admit that it encountered challenges in explaining what happened to the funds than giving contradictory answers to the questions.
“If the present management of NNPCL is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS,” Wadada added.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has again stopped the Peoples Democratic Party from proceeding with its planned national convention scheduled to take place in Ibadan, Oyo State, between November 15 and 16.
The court also barred the Independent National Electoral Commission from supervising, monitoring, or recognising any outcome from the planned convention where national officers were expected to be elected, Channels reports.
Justice Peter Lifu issued the restraining order on Tuesday while ruling on an application filed by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido.
Lamido had sued the party, alleging that he was unjustly denied the opportunity to purchase the nomination form for the national chairmanship position, thereby excluding him from the exercise.
Justice Lifu said the order became necessary because the PDP failed to comply with the relevant legal requirements guiding the conduct of such conventions.
He noted that evidence before the court showed the party did not publish the timetable for the exercise as required by law, and therefore acted in breach of due process.
The judge further held that the balance of convenience favoured Lamido, as he would suffer greater harm if unlawfully excluded from the process.
“In a constitutional democracy, due process of law must be strictly observed by those in authority. To act otherwise is to endanger the very foundation of democracy itself,” he said.
He added that, under Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, courts must not abdicate their responsibility of delivering justice without fear or favour.
Justice Lifu warned that anarchy could result anywhere the judiciary fails to perform its constitutional duties.
In his final ruling, the court restrained the PDP from holding the convention on November 15 and 16, or on any other date, in Ibadan or elsewhere.
It also ordered INEC not to monitor or recognise the outcome of any such gathering organised by the party.
In October 2025, the Federal High Court in Abuja stopped the PDP from proceeding with its planned national convention.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025, Justice James Omotosho ordered that the convention be halted until the party complies with the statutory requirements of its constitution, the Nigerian Constitution, and the Electoral Act.
The suit was instituted by three aggrieved members of the party, Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP Chairman), Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP Chairman), and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South).
They asked the court to stop the PDP’s scheduled national convention in Ibadan, where new national officers were expected to be elected, arguing that the planned convention violated the Electoral Act and the PDP’s internal rules.
However, on November 4, the Oyo State High Court granted the PDP approval to proceed with its convention.
Justice Akintola issued an interim order permitting the party to continue its convention plans without obstruction, following an ex-parte motion filed by Folahan Adelabi against the PDP, its Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri (Chairman of the National Convention Organising Committee) and INEC.
Justice Akintola, however, on Monday, adjourned the hearing of a Motion on Notice in a separate suit filed by Folahan Malomo Adelabi against the PDP, its acting National Chairman, and other respondents.
The judge explained that the adjournment was to allow both parties to file and exchange all necessary processes before the substantive hearing could begin.
