This last year has been a very prosperous one for some of the worlds top athletes. Some have cashed in hard through endorsements and some have landed major deals and extravagant salaries.

Floyd Mayweather rocks the charts as the #1 income earner in sports this past year.  To know that you can make this much money in something that you may be so passionate in is highly inspiring.  Use these examples as inspiration to work your way to the pros, or even to the top of the list in years to come.

So here is the list of the Top 20 highest paid athletes.

The Highest Paid Athletes

1. Floyd Mayweather

Sport: Boxing
Money Made:  $105 Million
Salary/winnings: $105 Million
Endorsements: $0

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

Sport: Football/Soccer
Money Made:  $80 Million
Salary/winnings: $52 Million
Endorsements: $28 Million

3. LeBron James

Sport: NBA Basketball
Money Made:  $72.3 Million
Salary/winnings: $19.3 Million
Endorsements: $53

4. Lionel Messi

Sport: Football/Soccer
Money Made:  $64.7 Million
Salary/winnings: $41.7 Million
Endorsements: $23 Million

5. Kobe Bryant

Sport: NBA Basketball
Money Made:  $61.5 Million
Salary/winnings: $30.5 Million
Endorsements: $31 Million

6. Tiger Woods

Sport: Golf
Money Made:  $61.2 Million
Salary/winnings: $6.2 Million
Endorsements: $55 Million

7. Roger Federer

Sport: Tennis
Money Made:  $56.2 Million
Salary/winnings: $4.2 Million
Endorsements: $52 Million

8. Phil Mickelson

Sport: Golf
Money Made:  $53.2 Million
Salary/winnings: $5.2 Million
Endorsements: $48 Million

9. Rafael Nadal

Sport: Tennis
Money Made:  $44.5 Million
Salary/winnings: $14.5 Million
Endorsements: $30 Million

10. Matt Ryan

Sport: NFL Football
Money Made:  $43.8 Million
Salary/winnings: $42 Million
Endorsements: $1.8 Million

11. Manny Pacquiao

Sport: Boxing
Money Made:  $41.8 Million
Salary/winnings: $41 Million
Endorsements: $800,000

12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Sport: Football/Soccer
Money Made:  $40.4 Million
Salary/winnings: $36.4 Million
Endorsements: $4 Million

13. Derrick Rose

Sport: NBA Basketball
Money Made:  $36.6 Million
Salary/winnings: $17.6 Million
Endorsements: $19 Million

14. Gareth Bale

Sport: Football/Soccer
Money Made:  $36.4 Million
Salary/winnings: $25.4 Million
Endorsements: $11 Million

15. Radamel Falcao

Sport: Football/Soccer
Money Made:  $35.4 Million
Salary/winnings: $32.4 Million
Endorsements: $3 Million

16. Neymar

Sport: Football/Soccer
Money Made:  $33.6 Million
Salary/winnings: $17.6 Million
Endorsements: $16 Million

17. Novak Djokovic

Sport: Tennis
Money Made:  $33.1 Million
Salary/winnings: $12.1 Million
Endorsements: $21 Million

18. Matthew Stafford

Sport: NFL Football
Money Made:  $33 Million
Salary/winnings: $31.5 Million
Endorsements: $1.5 Million

19. Lewis Hamilton

Sport: Formula 1
Money Made:  $32 Million
Salary/winnings: $29 Million
Endorsements: $3 Million

20. Kevin Durant

Sport: NBA Basketball
Money Made:  $31.9 Million
Salary/winnings: $17.9 Million
Endorsements: $14 Million