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#3 Ion Tiriac (Former tennis player) - $1.2 billion
Ion Tiriac is a former double international, having represented Romania with aplomb in both tennis and ice hockey.
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On the court, one of his biggest achievements was winning the 1970 Roland Garros men's doubles title with his more illustrious compatriot Ilie Nastase. The 82-year-old's best performance in singles at a Grand Slam also came at the claycourt major. The former top-ten singles player reached the quarter-finals in 1968 at Roland Garros - the first-ever major tournament in the Open Era.
Post retirement, the three-time Davis Cup finalist coached the likes of Boris Becker, Nastase and Adriano Pannatta - all Grand Slam winners. Before committing full time to tennis, Tiriac was a defenseman for the Romanian ice hockey team at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
The president of the Romanian tennis federation has amassed a net worth of $1 billion.
His Tiriac Group has investments in real estate, auto and financial services. Ion Tiriac also has a car and motorcycle collection of more than 400 vehicles.
#2 Vince McMahon (WWE) - $1.6 billion
Vince McMahon is the chairman and CEO of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), the world's largest media and sports entertainment company.
The 76-year-old has been associated with WWE, then called the WWF (World Wrestling Federation), for over five decades now. McMahon bought the company ten years later and transformed it into a global entity.
The East Carolina University graduate also has other business interests apart from WWE. He and his wife Linda, who have been married for 55 years, purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum and the Cape Cod Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League.
Vince McMahon is also a philanthropist, and has given funds to the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, Connecticut and Breast Cancer Alliance, among others.
#1 Michael Jordan (Basketball legend) - $2.2 billion
Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest player to have graced the NBA. During a glorious 15-year stint in the league in the late 80s and 90s, Jordan won six championships (all with the Chicago Bulls) and countless other individual accolades. He was the Finals MVP in all six title-winning seasons, an NBA record.
The 58-year-old made around $90 million in his near two-decade-long NBA career, with $63 million coming with his last two years with the Bulls. However, he made a fortune (close to $2 billion) out of endorsements. Jordan's inflation-adjusted earnings have been reported to be over $2.6 billion.
Jordan was a hugely marketeable former player, arguably the greatest ever across sports. He had lucrative sponsorship deals galore with the likes of Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet and McDonalds, among others.
He became the first billionaire NBA athlete in 2014 when he raised his stake in the Charlotte Hornets from 80% to 89.5%. Jordan is also a part owner of Major League Baseball team Miami Merlins and NASCAR team 23XI Racing.
In 2017, he was the highest-paid athlete of all time, with earnings of $1.85 billion. The Air Jordan sneakers, developed by Nike for Jordan in 1984, remain popular almost four decades after their introduction.
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