Cristiano Ronaldo’s football career has been a series of glittering firsts, from a record transfer to Real Madrid to scoring more competition goals than any man in history. He’s now notched up another huge win off the pitch: becoming the first billionaire player.
During more than two decades at some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Manchester United and Juventus, the 40-year-old Portuguese national hasn’t been shy about cashing in on his stardom with lucrative side gigs for the likes of Armani and Nike. But it’s now, in the twilight of his playing career, that he’s been catapulted into the top ranks of the richest sportspeople, inking a fresh contract extension in June with Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr that’s reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Ronaldo’s net worth has now climbed to $1.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is valuing his wealth for the first time, making him the first footballer identified by the index to achieve that status. For a long time, he and Lionel Messi, with whom Ronaldo has duelled for the title of greatest player, earned similar wages. But they diverged dramatically in 2023 with Ronaldo’s move to the Gulf and Messi joining Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami. Still, the Argentine is set to earn a stake in the US club once he retires, a deal that could again bring him level with his long-time rival.
Ronaldo surprised many by joining the relatively unknown Riyadh-based Al-Nassr saying — with characteristic self-confidence — that he was seeking a new challenge after having “won everything” in Europe. While some may have questioned his playing ambitions, the transfer unlocked one of the biggest ever contracts in football, as well as the highest average annual pay for a sportsperson. Saudi earnings are also tax-free and his contract reportedly includes perks such as an equity stake in the club and private jet access.
Miguel Marques, who helps manage Ronaldo’s wealth through Lisbon-based LMcapital Wealth Management, declined to comment on the player’s net worth, as did one of the player’s external public relations agencies. Bloomberg’s valuation takes into account his career earnings as well as investments and endorsement deals, adjusted for prevailing tax rates and market performance.
Poor Upbringing
Even as a once-unimaginable flood of cash has poured into football over recent years, Ronaldo’s financial ascent has been vertiginous. He grew up in poverty on the island of Madeira, quitting school at 14 to focus on football. After moving to the mainland, he found local fame with Sporting Lisbon before joining big-time European clubs and ascending the ranks of highest-paid players. That included a move to Manchester United in 2003 and Real Madrid six years later, where he signed one of the biggest football contracts of the time.
The CR7 museum in Funchal, on Ronaldo’s home island of Madeira.Photographer: Pavel Dudek/Alamy
Aurélio Pereira, who discovered Ronaldo for Sporting Lisbon, remembered him as a shy, thin boy whose otherworldly talent earned him the nickname “UFO.” Madeira now features the Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, Museum CR7, and Hotel Pestana CR7.
Named after Ronald Reagan, Ronaldo earned over $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023. He also signed a decade-long Nike deal for nearly $18 million annually and other endorsements with brands like Armani and Castrol, adding over $175 million to his net worth. His 2023 transfer to Al-Nassr earned him around $200 million yearly in tax-free salary and bonuses, plus perks including a $30 million signing bonus.
Messi has earned over $600 million in pre-tax salary over his career, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index, including $20 million in guaranteed annual pay since 2023. He also reportedly has a revenue-sharing deal with Apple. Messi’s guaranteed pay over the last two seasons is only about a tenth of Ronaldo’s income during the same period. Both players have benefited from significant pay inflation, far exceeding the lifetime earnings of previous stars like David Beckham, who earned around $100 million before retiring in 2013.
Spokespeople for Messi and Beckham didn’t respond to requests for comment.
When it comes to deploying and investing his riches, Ronaldo appears to lean heavily on Marques, who used to be at a Swiss bank and now works from an office above Louis Vuitton’s flagship Portuguese store on Lisbon’s swanky Avenida da Liberdade. Marques’ firm has built assets under management of €1.4 billion since starting out in 2018.
Ronaldo primarily invests in his home country, evaluating businesses with a close circle of friends and advisors, prizing loyalty. For instance, he considered buying a stake in Lisbon’s City of Padel club, a sport he enjoys, and has even attended games unannounced. His long-time friend, Miguel Paixão dos Santos, was involved in smaller Portuguese investments, like the 2024 acquisition of the Lisboa Racket Center. While Ronaldo has a range of businesses, including his CR7 brand, a hotel chain, gyms and a media group, they’re not major wealth drivers.
Ronaldo, somewhat selective with interviews, once threw a reporter’s microphone into a lake in 2016 due to pressure from a poor Euro performance that year, a tournament Portugal eventually won. Years later, in 2023, he joined investors acquiring the CMTV broadcaster, the same outlet whose reporter he confronted.
He’s also amassed a significant real estate portfolio, including a mansion on Madeira and penthouse in Lisbon which broke records for price paid per square meter in the capital. He’s currently completing an estate in Quinta da Marinha, a luxury golf resort on the outskirts of Lisbon, that reportedly cost about €20 million.
The house has attracted the attention of locals and tourists alike, who have flocked to the club house and car park at the Oitavos Dunes Golf Course – located on a hill overlooking the player’s new house. Miguel Champalimaud, the owner of the golf club who sold the plot of land to Ronaldo, has even had to turn away informal tours trying to catch a glimpse of the star’s new home.
What next
Ronaldo is the most popular person in the world on Instagram with over 660 million followers, a fact unlikely to have escaped Saudi officials as the country looks to open up more and promote itself as a desirable tourist destination.
His arrival in Saudi Arabia generated immense excitement, with thousands attending his debut and subsequent matches often selling out. He quickly became Al-Nassr’s top scorer. However, the initial fervor has waned, with routine games now attracting smaller crowds. One late-season game reportedly had fewer than 6,000 attendees, despite potentially being his last home game, before his contract was renewed. Ronaldo defends the Saudi Pro League, even claiming it’s superior to France’s Ligue 1. He also praises Saudi Arabia’s safety and beauty, often sharing his experiences on Instagram, particularly by the Red Sea.
Ronaldo’s fortune is relatively distinct among the select group of billionaire athletes he now joins in that the vast majority is derived from pay. The biggest driver of Roger Federer’s wealth, for example, comes from a stake he took in running apparel brand On Holdings AG as part of a sponsorship deal, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index. Basketball legend Michael Jordan earned less than $100 million in career pay, with much of his fortune coming from longtime endorsement deals with Nike and a stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
Increasingly for Ronaldo the question is going to be his post-playing life. He’s one of the oldest players active in the game at a professional level and has said he expects to retire at Al-Nassr. He’s also said his dream is to own several football clubs, following in the steps of Beckham, Inter Miami’s co-owner.
Part of that dream has been realized after Ronaldo reportedly received a 15% stake in Al-Nassr as part of the extension of his contract. Given the level of wealth he’s building up now, there may well be many other options once he finally hangs up his boots.
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