The Highest Paid Athlete the Year You Were Born

In 1981, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner made Dave Winfield the world's highest-paid player with a 10-year contract and an annual salary of $1.4 million.

The third baseman for the Phillies was the highest-paid player in 1982, earning a salary of $1.5 million. By this point, Mike Schmidt had already won two National League MVP titles and a World Series MVP title in 1980.

1983 was another good year for Schmidt: Not only did he earn $1.65 million, but he was also voted the greatest player in the history of the franchise by fans.

Boxer "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler broke the record for athlete who made the most money in 1984. He earned $3.3 million in total, primarily from winning fights against Mustafa Hamsho and Juan Roldán.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. was the highest-earning athlete of 1985 with a salary of $2.5 million. This was also a significant year for the Los Angeles Lakers as a team: They defeated the Celtics for the first time in Laker history during the NBA Finals.

Johnson continued his run as the highest-paid athlete in 1986, when he made another $2.5 million.

In 1987, Patrick Ewing dethroned Magic Johnson for the top spot. Shortly after being named the NBA Rookie of the Year, Ewing earned $2.75 million for his '87 season.

Ewing maintained his first place position once again in 1988. He made $3.25 million, just barely outpacing Magic Johnson (by their standards), who made $3,142,860 that year.

Ewing got the top spot again for a third year in a row in 1989. As a center for the New York Knicks, he made $3.75 million (which is about $7.7 million today).

According to Forbes, Mike Tyson was the highest paid athlete of 1990, earning $28.6 million. Even though he unexpectedly lost a fight to Buster Douglas this year, he won matches against Henry Tillman and Alex Stewart.

In the early '90s, boxing was especially lucrative. The highest-earning athlete in 1991 was Evander Holyfield, who earned $60 million thanks to wins against George Foreman and Bert Cooper.

Michael Jordan earned a cool $35.9 million in 1992. At this point, Jordan had already earned the MVP title twice, in 1988 and 1991. After the Bulls won the NBA finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, he was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for a third time. He also competed in the Barcelona Olympics this year as part of the men's basketball team.

In June 1993, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to victory again, marking the first time since the '60s that a team had won three consecutive championship titles. He made $36 million between his salary and endorsements this year.

In October 1993, Jordan announced that he was leaving the NBA. Then, in February 1994, he surprised everyone by signing a Minor League Baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox had the same owner as the Bulls, Jerry Reinsdorf, who continued to honor Jordan's basketball contract during the years he played baseball. This allowed him to remain the highest-paid athlete, earning around $30 million in 1994.

Jordan returned to the NBA in 1995, issuing a two-word press release: "I'm back." According to Forbes, he picked up two new endorsement deals this year, earning him $40 million. Add that to his $3.9 million salary, and Jordan made the most money of any athlete once again.

Mike Tyson took Jordan's place as the top-earning athlete in 1996, raking in $75 million. This year, he notably won the WBC and WBA titles after claiming victories against Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon.

Jordan reclaimed his title once again in 1997. He made $31.3 million in salary/winnings for this year, plus an additional $47 million in endorsements. All in all, he made a total of $78.3 million for the year.

In 1998, Jordan earned a total of $69 million. This year he also led the Bulls to yet another three-peat victory (winning three championship games in a row) and was voted the Finals MVP. Forbes reports that he's the highest-paid athlete of all time, with career earnings of $1.7 billion.