One of my pet peeves is that the world of sports has become so focused on economics. Athletes now sign for enormous contracts that boggle one's mind. Owners of sports teams are willing to pay these ridiculous salaries because they know that fans are willing to buy tickets at a highly inflated price. When I was young, my Dad and I took a mini vacation where we attended baseball games in three consecutive days in Kansas City. Dad, who had very conservative spending habits was willing to shuck out the five dollars it took to get seats relatively close to the field. Looking back, I realize that it cost him $30 for us to see the A's play two games against Cleveland and one against the New York Yankees.

However, I saw an article recently that intrigued me about the 30 richest sports personalities in the world. Some of them I would have guessed. A few were somewhat surprising. Going against my hesitancy to talk much about such things, I decided to share parts of that list. As a disclaimer, a person's net worth, especially when you are talking hundreds of millions of dollars, often fluctuates. Depending on when this list was compiled (it is dated December, 2022 by an outfit called Wealthy Gorilla), the numbers included may or may not be accurate. I heard awhile back that Elon Musk lost $20 billion one day because of adverse market conditions. The loss apparently had little effect on his living conditions as he still had billions and billions of wealth remaining.

Michael Jordan was reported to have a net worth of $2.2 billion. Jordan as I am sure you know is a retired NBA player having played for the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards. There is a silly social media discussion going on about who is the greatest NBA player of all time. Most of the discussion centers around Jordan and current player LeBron James. I sense that those special fans of James are the ones pushing the discussion. The fact remains that they played in different eras and it is difficult to compare players from different eras. I would like to insert the names of players from a long time ago that also should be considered as GOATs--namely Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. But I'm an old guy. Jordan has invested his fortune wisely, as most of the richest athletes have done. He currently owns the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA.

No. 2 is Vince McMahon, a former professional wrestler. This is a 'sport' that I am very unfamiliar with, and was unaware of McMahon's athletic career. He is currently majority owner and CEO of the WWE, the outfit that is behind most of the wrestling seen on TV these days. Most of McMahon's success came from his association with WWE, and his wealth is set at $1.6 billion.

I had never heard of the No. 3 person-- Ion Tiriac. He is a former professional tennis and ice hockey player. He is now owner of the Mutua Madrid Open Tennis Tournament. His wealth is set at $1.2 billion. He has been quoted as saying 'I have every single Ferrari that came out. I have all the Mercedes they came out with, all the Jaguars they came out with and all the Porsches they came out with.' Must be nice.

I have been told that dressage doesn't get the media coverage that it deserves. Someone, somewhere must appreciate dressage. No. 4 on the list is Anna Kasprzak, with a net worth of $1 billion. Oh yes, Kasprzak is considered to be one of the best dressage riders in the world.

No. 5 is Tiger Woods, the American professional golfer at $800 million. I have a hunch that Tiger would be higher on the list if he hadn't gone through a very messy divorce a few years back, which drained quite a bit of value. Still, as you can see, it pays to be one of the top golfers of all time. Much of Tiger's net worth came through endorsement deals. Wonder how much money old-time golfers like Ben Hogan and Sammy Snead would have earned had they played later than they did.

Irish race car driver and Motorsport team boss Eddie Jordan rates No. 6 on the list. His net worth is set at $600 million. In addition to his connection with Motorsports, he is a noted musician and television personality in his part of the world.

Former NBA player Junior Bridgeman is No. 7 at $600 million. Bridgeman did play for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers in a 12-year NBA career, but most of his money has come from his investment in fast food franchises.

Lionel Messi, the Argentine 'footballer' comes in at No. 8 with an estimated net worth of $600 million. He is a member of the World Cup Champion Argentina national soccer team and is considered by his ardent fans as being the Greatest of All Time in his sport.

Magic Johnson is listed at No. 9 with an estimated net worth of $600 million. Johnson was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers for 13 seasons. He now is president of basketball operations for the Lakers and owns a portion of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise.

Formula One race car driver Michael Schumacher is No. 10, also listed at $600 million. Schumacher is a German driver and someone has suggested if you know only one Formula One driver, Schumacher would have to be the one. I sheepishly admit I didn't even know one Formula One driver.

No. 11 is a surprise to me. According to this list Roger Staubach, the one-time Dallas Cowboy quarterback is worth $600 million. I wasn't surprised that Staubach is wealthy. I just didn't know how wealthy. He has made wise investments of the money he earned as a Cowboy.

Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese professional 'footballer' is No. 12 with a net worth of $500 million. He is involved in discussions among soccer fans whether or not he or Messi is the greatest at soccer. There is apparently lots of money in playing soccer.

LeBron James, or as he likes to call himself 'King James', is No. 13 at $500 million. He is an NBA player, having played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers again and now the Lakers. James has claimed that he is worth $1 billion. This list says he has one-half of that total.

David Beckham is another soccer player to make the list at No. 14 and $450 million. Beckham is now retired after a long career with British teams. A movie was made around his signature kick, called 'Bend It Like Beckham.'

Boxer Floyd Mayweather was unbeaten in his pugilistic career winning all 50 of his bouts. He is a successful business man as well, earning enough to place him at No. 15 on the list at $450 million.

Roger Federer, a Swiss tennis player, recently retired after a long and successful career. He can probably afford to retire since his net worth of $450 million puts him at No. 16. Some has said that he earned around $1.1 billion in his years on the tennis court.

Greg Norman, a retired professional golfer, reportedly has a net worth of $400 million and is No. 17 on the list. Norman is part of the LIV golf organization that is in competition with the PGA to rule the golfing world, in fact he is currently the LIV commissioner. As I understand it, the LIV is bankrolled by a couple of Saudi Arabian investors who hope to make the PGA immaterial.

Jack Nicklaus, who some would say was the best professional golfer of all time, is No. 18 at $400 million. The Golden Bear, along with Arnold Palmer, is credited with making pro golfing the lucrative venture it now is.

Another golfer, Phil Mickelson, makes the list at No. 19 and is worth an estimated $400 million. Mickelson's career has been sparked with controversy due to some investments he is reported to have made and his connection to the LIV.

Shaquille O'Neal is listed at No. 20 and it is estimated his value is roughly $400 million. Shaq was a great NBA player with Los Angeles and Miami, but it is no surprise that he is very wealthy. He has advertisement deals all over the place. He is known as one of the most lovable of the retired NBAers although those who had to play against him didn't love him at the time.

Finishing out the Top 30 are Dwayne Johnson, No. 21, $400 million; Vinnie Johnson, No. 22, $400 million; Alex Rodriguez, No. 23, $350 million; No. 24, Dale Earnhardt Jr., $300 million; No. 25, George Foreman, $300 million; No. 26, Lewis Hamilton, $285 million; No. 27, Ferando Alonso, $260 million; No., 28, Gary Player, $250 million; No. 29, Grant Hill, $250 million and No. 30 Kimi Raikkonen, $250 million.

As you can see, being a successful athlete pays well these days.