Stepping out of stadiums and rings into the TV and film arena, a slew of major sports icons and lesser-known athletes have built winning second chapters on screen. From boxing champs and WWE greats to NBA and NFL standouts, these stars made the leap, with some ultimately seeing their acting careers far outgrow their sporting CVs.

Read on to discover which former athletes-turned-actors top the wealth rankings, based on net worth estimates by Celebrity Net Worth and Forbes. All dollar amounts in US dollars.

Just missing out on the 21st spot is martial artist-turned-1980s action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, who is worth $30 million (£22.9m). Pipping him to the post is Marshawn 'Beast Mode' Lynch. The Seattle Seahawks luminary, who retired in 2019, is building an impressive acting résumé.

The NFL star has appeared in sci-fi series Westworld and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his breakout role in the 2023 satirical comedy film Bottoms. More recently, he starred opposite Eddie Murphy in The Pick Up, and is set to feature in the upcoming season of the acclaimed HBO show Euphoria.

Before he caught the acting bug, Jason Momoa excelled as a surfer and all-around athlete. His screen career began in 1999 in Baywatch: Hawaii, but global attention didn't arrive until his breakout role as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones.

Momoa made the leap to Hollywood blockbusters in 2016 when DC cast him as Aquaman, and he has gone on to star in Dune and A Minecraft Movie. He reportedly earned $15 million (£11.5m) for 2023's Aquaman sequel and $12 million (£9.2m) for A Minecraft Movie. Momoa also heads a production company, has his own surfboard and canned water lines, and fronts major ad campaigns.

Tony Danza didn't plan on being a TV star. The Brooklyn-born actor started out as a wrestler and then a middleweight boxer, turning pro in 1976 and racking up a decent nine wins and three losses. His path changed when a producer spotted him training in a boxing gym, leading to his big acting break in 1978 as Tony Banta in the hit TV show Taxi.

Danza became a household name in the 1980s with the sitcom Who’s the Boss?, and later headlined The Tony Danza Show. Residuals from these series, along with ongoing acting and hosting work, have helped the former fighter amass a remarkably solid fortune.

Long before becoming a sitcom legend, Ed O'Neill played college football at Youngstown State and even signed briefly with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969. After turning to theatre and picking up early TV and movie roles, his career took off in 1987 when he was suitably cast as former high school football star Al Bundy in Married… with Children.

O'Neill's biggest payday came with Modern Family, which ran from 2009 to 2020. At the height of the show's success, the veteran actor reportedly picked up $500,000 (£383k) per episode, which works out at around $12 million (£9.2m) per season.

Hong Kong-born Donnie Yen is one of the most accomplished martial artists to move into acting. Trained from childhood by his mother, a revered Wushu and Tai Chi master, he later refined his skills with the elite Beijing Wushu Team before breaking into Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s.

Yen became a major force in HK action films during the 1990s, but it was his portrayal of Wing Chun master Ip Man in 2008 that propelled him to global fame. Hollywood roles in Rogue One, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and Mulan have further boosted his profile and fortune.

Chuck Norris started out as a champion martial artist, developing his skills during Air Force service in South Korea before going on to win multiple karate titles in the 1960s. This opened the door to acting, and an early role opposite Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon helped launch him into 1980s action stardom with films like Missing in Action and The Delta Force.

Norris' biggest mainstream success came with the TV show Walker, Texas Ranger, which ran from 1993 to 2001. Off-screen, he has racked up multiple endorsements and business ventures, including his CForce water brand.

Like Donnie Yen, Beijing native Wu Jing, aka Jacky Wu, honed his martial arts skills with the city's elite Wushu Team before transitioning to acting. He also won a string of Wushu and Tai Chi competitions. After bagging roles in action and fantasy titles throughout the 1990s, 2000s, and early 2010s, he broke out as both star and director of the Wolf Warrior movies, with 2017's Wolf Warrior 2 becoming one of China's highest-grossing movies.

Wu shrewdly invested his own money into the 2019 Chinese sci-fi epic The Wandering Earth, a gamble that paid off spectacularly when it became a box-office phenomenon.

Before becoming a Hollywood regular, John Cena was one of WWE's biggest stars, joining the company in 2001 and eventually claiming a record-equalling 16 world championships. His larger-than-life persona and blockbuster merch sales made him the face of the wrestling giant for more than a decade, with reported earnings of around $12 million (£9.2m) a year at his peak.

Cena moved into acting in the mid-2000s, later landing roles in Trainwreck, Blockers, F9, and Fast X, as well as portraying Peacemaker in the DC universe. Outside of screen work, he has boosted his income with major endorsement deals for brands ranging from Gillette to Capri Sun and Experian.

While Charles Barkley is best known for his Hall of Fame NBA career, he has also popped up on screen for years, appearing as himself or in cameo roles in Look Who’s Talking Now!, Space Jam, Modern Family, The Simpsons, and more.

That said, Barkley’s real second act has been in broadcasting. As one of the analysts on TNT's Inside the NBA show, the pundit reportedly earns $10 million (£7.6m) a year. Combined with endorsements for brands like Nike, Coca-Cola and McDonald's, Barkley has kept his bank balance growing long after quitting the court.

Kurt Russell initially chased a future in pro baseball, playing in the minor leagues until a shoulder injury ended his athletic ambitions. Forced to pivot, he eventually managed to join the Hollywood major league, evolving from a Disney child star to one of the industry's highest-earning leading men.

Stellar turns in Escape from New York, Silkwood, Tombstone, and later the Fast & Furious and Tarantino films have cemented his longevity. Beyond acting, Russell adds to his wealth through his GoGi Wines label and ambassador work for private jet firm ONEFlight.

Fellow centimillionaire Jason Statham began his career as a competitive diver for Team GB, spending over a decade on the national squad and competing at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. The future actor was also massively into martial arts and soccer.

After a brief but successful modelling career, Statham broke through in 1998 in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch in 2000, before becoming a global action staple with The Transporter, Crank, The Expendables, and the Fast & Furious franchise. Today, Statham remains one of Tinseltown's most bankable action stars.

Ray Allen is best known as one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, but he has also left a mark on the big screen. His acting debut came in 1998 when Spike Lee cast him as Jesus Shuttleworth in He Got Game, a role that remains one of the most memorable athlete performances in film. Allen later appeared in 2001's Harvard Man and the 2015 short Uncle Drew: Chapter Four.

Aside from acting, the former Boston Celtics guard has stayed busy post-retirement with business ventures, property-related projects, and philanthropy.

A 15-time NBA All-Star and one of the most intense competitors the league has ever seen, Kevin Garnett has also made several notable screen appearances. He got his first taste of acting in 1996, portraying Wilt 'The Stilt' Chamberlain in an Earl 'The Goat' Manigualt biopic. He later cropped up as himself in animated series The Cleveland Show and sitcom Go On, but his standout role came in 2019's Uncut Gems opposite Adam Sandler.

Since retiring in 2016, Garnett has also worked as a TV sports analyst, consultant, and an entrepreneur.

Before becoming a TV titan, Mark Harmon was a star quarterback at UCLA with serious prospects of going pro. He shifted to acting in the 1970s, earning recognition in St Elsewhere and later fronting hits like Summer School and The Deliberate Stranger.

Harmon's career reached another level with NCIS, where his long-running role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs has made him one of TV's highest-paid actors, earning a reported $525,000 (£402k) per episode at his peak, netting him $20 million (£15.3m) a year.

Jet Li first rose to fame in China as a Wushu prodigy, winning multiple national titles. His screen debut in 1982's Shaolin Temple turned him into a regional sensation and led to plum roles in Once Upon a Time in China, Fist of Legend, and Fong Sai-yuk.

Li broke into the American market in 1998 with Lethal Weapon 4 and has gone on to star in hits like Romeo Must Die, The One, Hero, Fearless, Mulan, and The Expendables series. This crossover success in both Eastern and Western cinema has translated to a towering net worth.

Jackie Chan's path to international megastardom began in his childhood when he trained in acrobatics and multiple martial arts at the prestigious China Drama Academy, later earning a black belt in Hapkido and mastering styles from karate to Judo. This elite training shaped the breathtaking stunt work that has made him a legend.

After breaking out with 1978's Drunken Master, Chan conquered Hollywood in the 1990s with Rush Hour, earning a reported $15 million (£11.5m) plus profit shares for each of its sequels. Add in production companies, cinema chains, and brand ventures, and it's no surprise he's now one of the world's richest action icons.

Shaq is best known for being one of the NBA's most unstoppable forces, but he's also built a quirky acting career. He has appeared in Blue Chips, Kazaam, and Uncle Drew, popped up in comedies like Scary Movie 4, and played exaggerated versions of himself in countless shows and animated series.

That said, the bulk of his fortune comes from elsewhere: a staggering $292 million (£223m) in NBA salary, plus a bewildering array of endorsement deals and a sprawling business portfolio.

The Rock has parlayed a dominant WWE run into one of the most successful acting careers in Hollywood history. After a record-smashing $5.5 million (£4.2m) debut lead role in 2002's The Scorpion King, he became a box-office fixture in Jumanji, Moana, the Fast & Furious series, the DC Extended Universe, and more.

The former wrestler's $50 million (£38.3m) salary for Red One helped make him the world's highest-paid actor in 2024, with total earnings of $88 million (£67.4m), according to Forbes. Off-screen, his sizeable stake in Teremana Tequila has become his most valuable asset, pushing his net worth ever closer to billionaire territory.

Long before Hollywood, Arnold Schwarzenegger was a seven-time Mr Olympia. The Austrian-born bodybuilder soared with 1982's Conan the Barbarian and was an action heavyweight up to the early noughties with classics like The Terminator film series, Predator, and Total Recall.

Arnie's biggest haul came from 2003's Terminator 3, which saw him earn $110 million (£84.2m) plus a cut of the profits. That same year, he pivoted to politics and served two terms as Governor of California. Factoring in his property holdings and investments, Forbes estimates Schwarzenegger's wealth at $1.2 billion (£917m).

LeBron James is the only active athlete in our round-up, yet his expanding Hollywood résumé firmly earns him a spot. Now a billionaire, he became the first active NBA player to achieve the feat back in 2022 and ranks as the league's highest-earning star of all time.

Acting-wise, LeBron stole scenes in 2015's Trainwreck before leading the 2021 movie Space Jam: A New Legacy. Meanwhile, his SpringHill Entertainment company produces films, series, and sports docs. Combined with his record NBA earnings, endorsements, and major business stakes, LeBron's growing presence in entertainment is helping to drive a fortune that continues to soar into the stratosphere.

Michael Jordan isn't known for an extensive acting career, but he has been a screen presence for decades, starring as himself in 1990s movies Space Jam and He Got Game, and later making cameo appearances across film and TV that have cemented his pop-culture status.

Still, the bulk of the basketball GOAT's $3.8 billion (£2.9bn) fortune comes from business, not acting. Jordan became a billionaire in 2014, fuelled by the explosive success of his namesake brand, which continues to earn him around $100 million (£76.7m) a year. Plus, he banked a substantial sum in 2023 by cashing out of the Charlotte Hornets in a sale that valued the franchise at $3 billion (£2.3bn).

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