Forbes' list of world's highest-paid athletes

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This is a list of the highest-paid athletes in the world for 2015 as ranked by Forbes magazine on their earnings. Amounts in United States dollar.

Sortable table

Rank	Name	Sport	Nation	Total	Salary/Winnings	Endorsements
1	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	Boxing	United States	$300 million	$285 million	$15 million
2	Manny Pacquiao	Boxing	Philippines	$160 million	$148 million	$12 million
3	Cristiano Ronaldo	Football	Portugal	$79.6 million	$52.6 million	$27 million
4	Lionel Messi	Football	Argentina	$73.8 million	$51.8 million	$22 million
5	Roger Federer	Tennis	Switzerland	$67 million	$9 million	$58 million
6	LeBron James	Basketball	United States	$64.8 million	$20.8 million	$44 million
7	Kevin Durant	Basketball	United States	$54.1 million	$19.1 million	$35 million
8	Phil Mickelson	Golf	United States	$50.8 million	$2.8 million	$48 million
9	Tiger Woods	Golf	United States	$50.6 million	$0.6 million	$50 million
10	Kobe Bryant	Basketball	United States	$49.5 million	$23.5 million	$26 million
11	Ben Roethlisberger	American football	United States	$48.9 million	$46.4 million	$2.5 million
12	Rory McIlroy	Golf	Northern Ireland	$48.3 million	$16.3 million	$32 million
13	Novak Djokovic	Tennis	Serbia	$48.2 million	$17.2 million	$31 million
14	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Football	Sweden	$39.1 million	$33.1 million	$6 million
15	Lewis Hamilton	Formula 1	England	$39 million	$36 million	$3 million
16	Ndamukong Suh	American football	United States	$38.6 million	$38.2 million	$0.4 million
17	Fernando Alonso	Formula 1	Spain	$35.5 million	$34 million	$1.5 million
18	Gareth Bale	Football	Wales	$35 million	$25.5 million	$9.5 million
19	Jon Lester	Baseball	United States	$34.1 million	$33.7 million	$0.4 million
20	Derrick Rose	Basketball	United States	$33.9 million	$18.9 million	$15 million
21	Sebastian Vettel	Formula 1	Germany	$33 million	$32 million	$1 million
22	Rafael Nadal	Tennis	Spain	$32.5 million	$4.5 million	$28 million
23	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Cricket	India	$31 million	$4 million	$27 million
23	Neymar	Football	Brazil	$31 million	$14 million	$17 million
25	Carmelo Anthony	Basketball	United States	$30.5 million	$22.5 million	$8 million
26	Maria Sharapova	Tennis	Russia	$29.7 million	$6.7 million	$23 million
27	Carson Palmer	American football	United States	$29 million	$28.5 million	$0.5 million
27	James Rodríguez	Football	Colombia	$29 million	$24.5 million	$4.5 million
29	J.J. Watt	American football	United States	$27.9 million	$20.9 million	$7 million
30	Robinson Canó	Baseball	Dominican Republic	$27.6 million	$24.1 million	$3.5 million
31	Dwyane Wade	Basketball	United States	$27.2 million	$15.2 million	$12 million
32	Peyton Manning	American football	United States	$27 million	$15 million	$12 million
32	Kimi Räikkönen	Formula 1	Finland	$27 million	$25 million	$2 million
34	Clayton Kershaw	Baseball	United States	$26.9 million	$25.7 million	$1.2 million
34	Wayne Rooney	Football	England	$26.9 million	$19.9 million	$7 million
36	Gerald McCoy	American football	United States	$26.7 million	$26.5 million	$0.2 million
37	Chris Paul	Basketball	United States	$26.1 million	$20.1 million	$6 million
38	Radamel Falcao	Football	Colombia	$25.9 million	$21.9 million	$4 million
38	Albert Pujols	Baseball	Dominican Republic	$25.9 million	$23.4 million	$2.5 million
40	Ryan Howard	Baseball	United States	$25.6 million	$25 million	$0.6 million
41	Dwight Howard	Basketball	United States	$25.5 million	$21.5 million	$4 million
42	Cliff Lee	Baseball	United States	$25.2 million	$25 million	$0.2 million
43	Miguel Cabrera	Baseball	Venezuela	$25.1 million	$22.1 million	$3 million
44	Amar'e Stoudemire	Basketball	United States	$25 million	$22 million	$3 million
45	Sergio Agüero	Football	Argentina	$24.9 million	$17.9 million	$7 million
46	Blake Griffin	Basketball	United States	$24.7 million	$17.7 million	$7 million
47	Serena Williams	Tennis	United States	$24.6 million	$11.6 million	$13 million
48	Prince Fielder	Baseball	United States	$24.3 million	$24 million	$0.3 million
49	Joe Johnson	Basketball	United States	$24.2 million	$23.2 million	$1 million
50	Joe Mauer	Baseball	United States	$24 million	$23 million	$1 million
51	CC Sabathia	Baseball	United States	$23.9 million	$23 million	$0.9 million
52	Chris Bosh	Basketball	United States	$23.8 million	$20.8 million	$3 million
53	Zack Greinke	Baseball	United States	$23.7 million	$23.7 million	$0 million
53	Eli Manning	American football	United States	$23.7 million	$15.7 million	$8 million
55	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	NASCAR	United States	$23.6 million	$14.6 million	$9 million
56	Justin Verlander	Baseball	United States	$23.4 million	$22.7 million	$0.7 million
57	Andy Dalton	American football	United States	$23.3 million	$22.3 million	$1 million
58	Masahiro Tanaka	Baseball	Japan	$23 million	$22 million	$1 million
58	Mark Teixeira	Baseball	United States	$23 million	$22.5 million	$0.5 million
60	Félix Hernández	Baseball	Venezuela	$22.9 million	$22.7 million	$0.2 million
61	Cole Hamels	Baseball	United States	$22.7 million	$22.5 million	$0.2 million
61	Jimmie Johnson	Auto racing	United States	$22.7 million	$16.2 million	$6.5 million
63	Wladimir Klitschko	Boxing	Ukraine	$22.5 million	$19 million	$3.5 million
64	Andy Murray	Tennis	Scotland	$22.3 million	$6.3 million	$16 million
65	Matt Kemp	Baseball	United States	$22.2 million	$21 million	$1.2 million
66	LeSean McCoy	American football	United States	$22.1 million	$21.3 million	$0.8 million
67	Drew Brees	American football	United States	$22 million	$11 million	$11 million
67	Tony Romo	American football	United States	$22 million	$17 million	$5 million
69	Adrian Gonzalez	Baseball	United States	$21.5 million	$21.1 million	$0.4 million
70	Jacoby Ellsbury	Baseball	United States	$21.4 million	$21.1 million	$0.3 million
70	Tyron Smith	American football	United States	$21.4 million	$21.1 million	$0.3 million
72	Deron Williams	Basketball	United States	$21.3 million	$19.8 million	$1.5 million
73	Usain Bolt	Track and field	Jamaica	$21 million	$0 million	$21 million
73	Luis Suárez	Football	Uruguay	$21 million	$16.5 million	$4.5 million
75	Matt Cain	Baseball	United States	$20.8 million	$20.4 million	$0.4 million
75	David Wright	Baseball	United States	$20.8 million	$20 million	$0.8 million
77	Carl Crawford	Baseball	United States	$20.7 million	$20.4 million	$0.3 million
78	Jayson Werth	Baseball	United States	$20.6 million	$20.4 million	$0.2 million
79	Cesc Fàbregas	Football	Spain	$20.3 million	$15.3 million	$5 million
79	Hanley Ramírez	Baseball	Dominican Republic	$20.3 million	$20 million	$0.3 million
79	Russell Westbrook	Basketball	United States	$20.3 million	$15.8 million	$4.5 million
82	Justin Rose	Golf	England	$20.2 million	$8.2 million	$12 million
83	Yaya Touré	Football	Ivory Coast	$20 million	$17 million	$3 million
84	Rudy Gay	Basketball	United States	$19.9 million	$19.3 million	$0.6 million
85	Jordan Spieth	Golf	United States	$19.8 million	$8.8 million	$11 million
85	Adam Wainwright	Baseball	United States	$19.8 million	$19.7 million	$0.1 million
87	Frank Lampard	Football	England	$19.7 million	$15.7 million	$4 million
87	Kevin Love	Basketball	United States	$19.7 million	$15.7 million	$4 million
87	David Ortiz	Baseball	Dominican Republic	$19.7 million	$15.7 million	$4 million
90	Eden Hazard	Football	Belgium	$19.6 million	$16.1 million	$3.5 million
90	Alex Smith	American football	United States	$19.6 million	$19.1 million	$0.5 million
92	Kei Nishikori	Tennis	Japan	$19.5 million	$4.5 million	$15 million
93	Devin McCourty	American football	United States	$19.3 million	$19.1 million	$0.2 million
93	Mesut Özil	Football	Germany	$19.3 million	$12.8 million	$6.5 million
95	Aaron Rodgers	American football	United States	$19.1 million	$11.6 million	$7.5 million
96	Billy Horschel	Golf	United States	$19 million	$16 million	$3 million
97	Jeremy Lin	Basketball	United States	$18.9 million	$14.9 million	$4 million
97	Maurkice Pouncey	American football	United States	$18.9 million	$18.8 million	$0.1 million
97	Max Scherzer	Baseball	United States	$18.9 million	$18.7 million	$0.2 million
100	James Harden	Basketball	United States	$18.8 million	$14.8 million	$4 million

Medical students to spend seven years in school – NUC

The National Universities Commission has described as erroneous and misleading the news making the round that Nigerian medical students will now spend 11 years to obtain their first degree.
Its head of information department, Mrs. Adebukola Olatunji, clarified in a statement on Monday that medical students will only spend seven years in school rather than 11 years which was widely reported in the news.
Olatunji said newsmen misrepresented the NUC’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie, who was quoted to have announced the 11-year training period for medical students while giving the keynote address at the matriculation and inauguration of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on March 12, 2016.
She said nowhere in the keynote address entitled, “Development of Medical Education in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges,” was 11 years mentioned or implied.
According to Olatunji, what Okojie explained was that the NUC’s basic minimum academic standard for Medicine and Surgery had been reviewed such that anyone wishing to study Medicine and Surgery and Dentistry will first have to study any of the four-year basic medical science courses such as Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and Physiology before proceeding to the clinical training that would run for three years.
She said, “Although, the so-called ‘11-year Medical Programme’ stories have been credited to the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie’s keynote address titled, ‘Development of Medical Education in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges’, which was delivered at the Matriculation and Inauguration of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on Saturday, March 12, 2016, nowhere in that lecture was 11 years mentioned or implied.
“Prof. Okojie, who was represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary l, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, had explained that the new curriculum provides for a seamless seven-year programme.
“With the new curriculum, a medical student would be expected to graduate in Basic Medical Sciences, with options in Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and Physiology in the first four years, before proceeding for the clinical training that would run for three years.
“Prof. Okojie had further explained that the reviewed BMAS went through a long process, which included wide consultations with the academia, professional associations and regulatory bodies, following the conduct of a market needs assessment.
“According to him, the consensus was that medical training should be post-graduate. The main goal is to ensure that the crop of graduates emerging from the programme are psychologically matured to practice, with a high level of competency.”
Olatunji said NUC’s new basic minimum academic standard not only retained the fundamental learning objectives of the six-year programme and the national development goals for health in the country, it also retained the international outlook to guarantee global competitiveness.
She said, “While noting that the extant six-year programme shall continue to subsist for a period to be determined, Prof. Okojie observed that attempts had been made over the years to run medical programme using course credit system and that the hallmark of the new document is that it clearly apportions credit weightings to all the courses and activities.”

26-year-old hacker gets $3M for self-driving car startup

A 26-year-old hacker just banked millions to take on Elon Musk.

George Hotz is the founder of Comma.ai, an autonomous driving startup that's roughly six months old. On Monday, top VC firm Andreessen Horowitz announced a $3.1 million investment in the company.

Comma.ai is working on a kit that will make it possible to turn regular vehicles into semi-autonomous ones. In October, Hotz purchased a 2016 Acura ILX, cameras and GoPro mounts and started developing the technology out of his San Francisco garage.
The goal is to bring the kit -- both computer vision software and the cameras -- to market for less than $1,000 a pop before the end of 2016. It'll be relatively easy to install, said Hotz, "on par with setting up a piece of IKEA furniture."
Chris Dixon, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, wrote that when he first met Hotz he was skeptical. But that quickly turned to enthusiasm after he tested the car and learned more about the artificial intelligence behind Comma.ai.
Hotz, who Dixon describes as "brilliant," has made quite a dent in Silicon Valley over the past decade.
When he was 17, he discovered a way to hack the iPhone so that all carriers could use the device, not just AT&T (the only carrier to initially have a contract). His alias, Geohot, became legendary in hacker circles.
He went to Rochester Institute of Technology but dropped out after one semester. He interned at Google , worked at Facebook (FB, Tech30), and was sued by Sony over a Playstation 3 hack. He took computer science courses at Carnegie Mellon but didn't earn a bachelor's degree.
"I think college is potentially the greatest scam in history," he told CNNMoney on Monday.
Hotz, who is originally from New Jersey, said he's long been fascinated with artificial intelligence but wasn't quite sure how to approach it.


"For awhile, I thought it was going to be incredibly difficult to contribute," he said. In January 2015, he started working as a researcher at Vicarious, a company that's building artificial intelligence algorithms. "I started reading all the papers. I thought, 'This stuff isn't that hard. This isn't ultra sophisticated. This is basic,'" he said.
Moreover, "the mistakes people are making are basic."
In July 2015, Hotz quit Vicarious in the hopes of striking up a deal with Musk himself. And it wasn't just a pipe dream. Hotz met Musk and proposed a new kind of computer vision system for Tesla. But after three months of conversation, the contract talks ultimately fizzled.
Hotz said it was because Musk wanted to be able to pass on Hotz's tech even if he met all the contract's requirements. Tesla did not immediately respond to request for comment.
That's when Hotz decided to go at it himself.
"I started to look around at the other players. These people are noobs," he said.
In particular, Hotz feels that General Motors (GM) got ripped off in its $1 billion acquisition of startup Cruise Automation, an autonomous driving kit that has yet to ship.
"That's an insane acquisition price for a company that has technology that questionably works," said Hotz. Andreessen Horowitz's investment is the first venture capital funding that Comma.ai has raised.
To date, the longest stretch his technology has successfully navigated is a one-hour ride from Mountain View to San Francisco.
Hotz's team is small -- just four people -- but he's hiring. He said he gets about 100 applications a day from interested candidates.

Ese Walter answers critics over denouncing Jesus, will give all the juicy details in new book

Barely a week after the story that Ese Walter had renounced her Christian faith because she no longer believes in God broke, Ese, who turned 32 last month,  made it very clear to critics that her father isn’t bothered about her decisions and so all haters need to mind their business.
She also stated that she is set to release a book detailing the full, uncensored gist about her experience with Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, the married COZA pastor who she had the alleged sexual affair with and how it affected her faith and attitude towards religion.
She wrote on social media: It was my birthday on Tuesday and the daddy called to sing me a birthday song in his usual fashion. He started with “happy birthday to youuuuu, happy birthday to youuuuu, happy birthday to youuuuu…. He got to the part he wanted to sing, ” all glory to god” and he said, “I read on instablog that you no longer beleive in god so I’d sing… ” All glory to whatever you believe innnnnn, all glory to whatever you beleive innnnn, all glory to whatever you beleive innnnnn…..” (He was singing this part fa) We laughed so hard. Birthday song ended.
He acknowledged he was aware I no longer believe. Life continued. That is my father. The one who has been responsible for me all my life.
He doesn’t care about religious bruhaha. Yet, some are carrying my matter on their heads planning to watch as my life goes under because I am “dining with the devil’ or is it end times they call it. Odiegwu! Una go wait taya o. I have decided to leave your religion alone but you won’t leave me and my unbeleif alone? Issorai. I got news though. The book is set to drop next month. All the parts of the story I couldn’t put on the blog for shame and fear is on there.

Taylor Swift Comes Out On Top At The 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards

Taylor Swift accepts the award for ‘Album of the Year,’ for ’1989,’ onstage at the iHeartRadio Music Awards which broadcasted live on TBS, TNT, AND TRUTV from The Forum on April 3, 2016 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for iHeartRadio / Turner)

Taylor Swift started out the night as the leading lady, and when all’s said and done at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards, she ended up winning more than anybody else, which is per usual for the star. Swift won four trophies, including Album of the Year (a category she has triumphed in before at other ceremonies) and Best Tour. The only other acts that won more than a single vertical were Twenty One Pilots and Justin Bieber.

The show was a star-studded affair, though it had to compete with both the Juno Awards in Canada and the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, both of which also attracted their fair share of big names. Some of the best showings on the stage at The Forum in Inglewood included performances by DNCE (who had music industry legend Nile Rodgers join them), Zayn, and Demi Lovato, who brought country star Brad Paisley out for a knockout rendition of her current single, “Stone Cold”.

Here is the full list of winners from this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards:

Song of the Year – Adele – “Hello”
Female Artist of the Year – Taylor Swift
Male Artist of the Year – Justin Bieber

Recommended by Forbes

Best New Artist – Fetty Wap
Best Duo/Group of the Year – Maroon 5
Album of the Year – Taylor Swift – 1989
Best Tour – Taylor Swift
Alternative Rock Artist of the Year – Twenty One Pilots
Alternative Rock Song of the Year – Twenty One Pilots – “Stressed Out”
Rock Artist of the Year – Foo Fighters
Rock Song of the Year – Zac Brown Band – “Heavy Is The Head (ft. Chris Cornell)”
Country Song of the Year – Chris Janson – “Buy Me A Boat”
Country Artist of the Year – Luke Bryan
Dance Song of the Year – Skrillex & Diplo – “Where Are Ü Now? (ft. Justin Bieber)”
Dance Artist of the Year – Calvin Harris
Hip Hop Song of the Year – Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Hip Hop Artist of the Year – Drake
R&B Song of the Year – The Weeknd – “Earned It”
R&B Artist of the Year – Chris Brown
Latin Song of the Year – Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias – “El Perdón”
Latin Artist of the Year – Pitbull
Regional Mexican Song of the Year – Voz de Mando – “Levantando Polvadera”
Regional Mexican Artist of the Year – Banda Los Recoditos
Best Lyrics – Rachel Platten – “Fight Song”
Best Collaboration – Mark Ronson – “Uptown Funk (ft. Bruno Mars)”
Best Cover Song – “Uptown Funk” – Fifth Harmony, Jasmine V, Jacob Whitesides and Mahogany Lox covering Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Best Song from a Movie – Lady Gaga – “Til It Happens To You” (The Hunting Ground)
Most Meme-able Moment – Taylor Swift’s “Crazy Girl” with Running Mascara (from “Blank Space” video)
Best Fan Army – Selena Gomez – Selenators

'Good weed helped me create my album' - Zayn Malik

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Fomer member of the teen-sensation boy band, Zayn Malik is definitely having the time of his life as a solo artiste.

The singer has set the record as being the first UK male artiste to debut at no. 1 on the Billboard charts with his album, "Mind of Mine" knocking Adele's "25" from the top spot.

Congrats to @ZaynMalik, whose "Mind of Mine" album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 https://t.co/ssCdHl3M7I pic.twitter.com/jpmDFzfRMF

— billboard (@billboard) April 3, 2016

Malik is the first UK male artist to reach the top of the American charts in 28 years since George Michael’s 'Faith' in 1988 in addition to being the first UK act to top the US charts since his former group, One Direction did in 2012 with "Up All Night".

"Mind of mine" and its lead single 'Pillow Talk' both reached number one in  83 countries on iTunes within 24 hours of it's release. Balling extraordinaire.

In an interesting move, Zayn credited his record breaking success to his smoking pot. Speaking to NME, he said:

"I’ve probably been smoking for a while. I don’t wanna say when I started because I don’t want to influence anyone else. That’s just something I do myself. It helps sometimes with the creative process, if you’re smoking a good weed."

Well, we hope he keeps hitting the pot and dropping more hits then.

Kourtney Kardashian Posts a Poolside, Cheetah Print Bikini-Clad 'Belfie'

The beautiful thing about modern technology is that now not only can you use your telephone to call people, but you can also connect with millions of strangers via social media who will follow your every makeup-free move courtesy of the camera also stored in that same aforementioned device. And as Kourtney Kardashian discovered on Sunday, the cell phone serves another very important purpose: the perfect scapegoat for when you need to take a good old-fashioned belfie.

Kourtney Kardashian/Instagram

The reality star spent her weekend lounging poolside in a cheetah print bikini, when the great philosophical paradox of the Kardashian’s existence suddenly struck her—if I don’t Instagram this did any of it really even happen? And so, naturally, a selfie had to be taken, but with nary a professional photographer nor a friend to take one of Kourt’s signature triplegrams in sight, what was a girl to do? Why, strike a dramatic, contorted lounge chair pose, snap a belfie, and blame it on the angle your selfie camera happened to land at, of course.



The caption on this shot, “Selfie camera view,” seems to imply the eldest Kardashian is shirking all responsibility for the taking and posting of this sexy poolside snap. It’s sort of the #IWokeUpLikeThis of the technological world, but also a potentially genius new marketing ploy for Apple. Just think of the time we’d all save if your phone just went ahead and took and posted all of your most scandalous belfies on your behalf!