Serena Williams Tops Forbes' Best-Paid Female Athlete List Four Years in a Row

For the fourth year, Serena Williams holds the title of Forbes’ Best-Paid Female Athlete. Naomi Osaka trails in second after beating her during their controversial US Open final match.

As tough as she is to beat on the hardcourt, Serena’s prowess as a highest-earning female athlete is undeterred. Forbes Magazine recently revealed she still is the reigning title-holder of being the highest-paid among all sportswomen. This is her fourth time in four years.

TOP OF THE CHARTS

She’s a 23-time grand slam champ so naturally, Serena would be raking in millions not just for her work in tennis but more so from her numerous endorsement deals. According to Forbes’, she is currently worth an estimated $225 million which also makes her the only athlete to make it to the publication’s “America’s Richest Self-Made Women” list.

In the last year ending June 1, 2019, Serena reportedly earned $29.2 million of which $4.2 million came from prize money. The rest were from her endorsements for giant brands Nike, Beats, Gatorade and JPMorgan Chase, to name a few. Pampers, Axa Financial, and General Mills recently joined the mix.

A CLOSE SECOND

Coming in second among Forbes’ highest-earning female athletes is fellow tennis player Naomi Osaka, who appeared on the list with $24.3 million in earnings after apologetically beating Serena in last year’s controversial US Open.

According to Forbes, tennis still remains to be the highest-earning sport for females. In fact, all women in the top ten of the magazine’s list are tennis players

From an off-court income of $1.5 million, Naomi’s earnings shot up to $16 million in the past year, thanks to new endorsement deals with Mastercard, All Nippon Airways, Nissan, and Procter & Gamble.

By next year, she’s expected to haul in more cash after recently signing a multimillion-dollar contract with Nike. She’s also expected to be one of the more prominent faces during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

TENNIS REIGNS SUPREME

According to Forbes, tennis still remains to be the highest-earning sport for females. In fact, all women in the top ten of the magazine’s list are tennis players including Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, and Sloane Stephens holding the 3rd, 4th, and 5th positions.

Football player Alex Morgan, badminton player P.V. Sindhu, and golfer Ariya Jutanugarn were the only non-tennis players who made it to the top 15.