Forbes: Bale's agent is the most powerful in the world (2024)

Every year, Forbes releases their list of the most powerful and richest agents in the sporting universe. There is a big change at the top of the list this year with Jonathan Barnett, Gareth Bale's agent, claiming the top spot.Jorge Mendes was second on the list last year but Barnett has moved from third to first this year.

One thing that sees Barnet top the list is that football agents' commission is not capped as tightly as other sports. They can earn 10% in commissions as stated by FIFA with other sports having a much lower figure -NFL (3%), NHL (4%), NBA (4%) and MLB (5%) are nowhere near that figure.

Bale is his most high profile client and the player who earned him the highest fee when he moved from Spurs to Real Madrid in 2013. The British agent, the owner of Stellar Group, has sealed deals worth €1.1 billion. Barnett has received €114.8 million in commission. He also hasSaúl Ñíguez (Atlético de Madrid), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Manchester United), Maxi Gómez (Valencia) andJoe Hart (Burnley)on his list of clients.

Second on the list isScott Boras, the poerwful baseball agent. He namesBryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies), Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) andStephen Strasburg(Washington Nationals) amongst his clients and has negotiated €2.1 billion worth of contracts. Given the lower commission fee, he has earned €106 million from those deals.

Jorge Mendes is next in third. The Portuguese is possibly the most well-known agent in the world and has, arguably, the most well-known footballer on his list of clients too in Cristiano Ronaldo. His business, Gestifute, have €1 billion worth of contracts and he has earned €105 million. His clients includeJoão Félix (Atlético de Madrid), James Rodríguez (Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Atlético de Madrid), Ángel di María (PSG), Nelson Semedo (Barcelona) andJoao Cancelo (Manchester City).

Mina Raiola is fifth on the list with €630 million negotiated contracts and €63 million in commissions.Paul Pogba (Manchester United) is his marquee client withZlatan Ibrahimovic (Los Ángeles Galaxy), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli) andMarco Verratti (PSG)also relying on the agent to negotiate their deals.

Most powerful agents in the world according to Forbes

Numbers in millions unless stated.