Serena Williams may have only won $62,000 in prize money during the last 12 months, but she has still topped Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-earning female athletes. The tennis great earned $18.1 million in endorsements, which was enough for her to top the list for a third straight year, despite not playing competitively for 14 months after revealing in January 2017 that she was pregnant with her first child.
The 23-time grand slam champion made twice as much off the court than any other female athlete, reports CNN, and only 16 male athletes earned more than Williams over the past 12 months from sponsorships.
CNN reports that the top 10 females earned a combined $105 million from June 2017 to June 2018. This is down 4 percent from last year and 28 percent from five years ago.
Forbes’ rankings of the world’s top 100 highest earning athletes of 2018 did not have a woman on it after Williams’ earning fell while she was on maternity leave.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
