Earnings for the world's sportswomen jumped 13% year-on-year to $293 million (before taxes and agent fees) in 2025 from $258 million in 2024, according to Forbes ‘The World’s Highest-Paid Female Athletes 2025’ list.
The estimates, which take into account on-field (prize money, salary) and off-field income (brand endorsements, events, merchandise, etc.), further noted that the cutoff for the top 20 in 2025 is up to $8.1 million, from $6.3 million in 2024.
The list is diverse, featuring one athlete each from track and field and rugby, four basketball players, two golfers, two skiers, and 10 tennis players.
Why no Venus Williams, Simone Biles on list?
According to the Forbes report, sports stars Venus Williams and Simone Biles may very well have earned enough to rank on the list this year, but they were excluded due to inactivity in sports during the year.
Gender pay gap: Even top athletes feel the difference
Further, the report noted that women athletes continued to earn less compared to their male counterparts — eight times less to be exact, as the top 20 male athletes earned a combined total of $2.3 billion.
The gap also continues to widen, with no woman qualifying for Forbes' general top 50 highest paid athletes list since 2023. In 2025, the cut off jumped to $53.6 million — more than double the top woman athlete's total earnings. The salaries are the biggest gap generator, where 82 male athletes outearned the highest earning female athlete.
Meet Coco Gauff — highest paid female athlete in the world
Also part of Forbes 30 Under 30 List in the sports category, 21-year-old United States tennis player Coco Gauff is the highest paid female athlete. She made an estimated $33 million in 2025 — around $8 million of which was from her French Grand Slam singles title in June.
However, endorsements have allowed Gauff to make bank, earning around $25 million off court from brands such as Baker Tilly, Bose, Chase Bank, Mercedes-Benz, Miu Miu, New Balance. She is also developing digital content, movies and TV shows with the Religion of Sports studio, and has her own management firm called Coco Gauff Enterprises, with help from WME.
Notably, her earnings are rare highs — only twice before have female athletes exceeded these numbers on the Forbes list. Naomi Osaka at $57.3 million and now retired Serena Williams with $45.9 million (both in 2021). Gauff is also the third highest earning tennis player in 2025, behind Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
