HE has never been short of things to boast about – but now Cristiano Ronaldo can add becoming the first football BILLIONAIRE to his extraordinary record.
The Portuguese super striker has just signed an incredible two-year deal worth £298million.
He will be paid £12.5million a month after agreeing to stay at Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
And that pay packet has helped turn Ronaldo into football’s first billionaire, according to financial information experts Bloomberg.
It based the valuation on his salary from 2002 to 2023 and reported earnings from deals and sponsorship.
His monthly wage with the Saudi team is more than Argentine superstar Lionel Messi earns at Inter Miami in the US in a YEAR and means he is worth twice as much as ex-England captain David Beckham.
On top of his eye-watering earnings, 40-year-old Ronaldo has raked in £410million through endorsements over the past two decades, including £13.4million a year from Nike.
His Al-Nassr deal came with two chefs, three gardeners, four security guards, a private jet and three drivers.
It’s a remarkable rise from humble beginnings for a man who once shared a bedroom with his siblings in a cramped home on the island of Madeira and, aged 12, would ask for leftovers from McDonald’s.
But Ronaldo might have been a bit stingy when he splashed out an estimated £4million for his fiancée Georgina Rodriguez’s 30-carat diamond engagement ring.
The tradition is that the husband-to-be should spend a month’s wages on this symbol of commitment — but Ronaldo only coughed up a third of that amount.
‘I make short-term plans’
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star is also defying norms by having such a long career.
He will still be playing aged 42 and is expected to start for Portugal at the World Cup in the US next year
When he picked up an award in his homeland this week, though, Ronaldo wouldn’t be drawn on when he plans to retire.
He said: “You can’t make long-term plans. I make short-term plans because it gives me more energy that way — more of a desire to live.”
Not making definite plans has allowed the canny businessman to hold out for a better club deal.
When Ronaldo’s contract with Al-Nassr ended this summer, there was speculation he would sign a megabucks contract with a US side.
But no American team can match the Saudis’ financial clout.
Al Nassr is owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund, whose chairman is Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The oil-rich nation’s state-owned fund has assets of around £700billion, so can easily afford to pay Ronaldo £298million.
The five-time Ballon d’Or player of the year winner has become the poster boy for the Arab country, which is trying to pitch itself as a leading sporting destination.
A few weeks ago the footballer posted paid content to his 665million Instagram followers saying, “I came here to do what I love, but I #StayedForMore”, alongside images of golf, boxing, Formula One and tennis events in Saudi.
Earlier this year Ronaldo went to the Saudi Cup horse race in the capital Riyadh with the prince and two weeks ago held up a ceremonial sword for the country’s National Day.
The biggest event of all will be when Saudi hosts the football World Cup in 2034, although surely even Ronaldo will be too old to lace up his boots for that one.
On signing his deal with Al Nassr on Wednesday, the star dismissed the notion it wasn’t top level.
He said in garbled English: “Only the people who have never played in Saudi, they don’t understand nothing about football, say this league is not top five.”
Other big names playing there include Brazil’s Neymar, France’s Karim Benzema and African Footballer of the Year Sadio Mane.
But England midfielder Jordan Henderson lasted just six months in Saudi and later apologised for playing in a country where homosexuality is a criminal offence.
The Crown Prince has also been accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and locking up his opponents.
The Islamic country, which expects women to dress conservatively in public, does appear to have relaxed its attitudes to semi-nudity in the case of Ronaldo and his bride-to-be.
Georgina posted images on Instagram of herself in a bikini, apparently by a swimming pool in Riyadh.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo continues to show off his six-pack and muscles on a regular basis.
It is also an offence for unmarried couples to live together in Saudi Arabia, but Georgina and her fiancé share a home in Riyadh.
When they first arrived in 2023 they stayed for a month at Riyadh’s Four Seasons Hotel in the 4,000-square feet Kingdom Suite on the 48th and 50th floor.
The couple, who share children Alana Martina, eight, and Bella Esmeralda, three, also have at least two other homes.
Ronaldo, who has three other children, has the most expensive apartment in Portugal’s capital Lisbon and a seven-bedroom modernist home in La Finca, Madrid, which has a cryochamber, spa and his initials carved into the front door detailing.
There are plenty of other ways he is spending that billion pounds, too.
Ronaldo’s supercars have included an £8.5million Bugatti Centodieci, a £500,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead, a McLaren Senna worth £750,000 and several Ferraris.
He also enjoys relaxing on a £5.5million, 88ft, six-cabin superyacht with five bathrooms.
This luxury lifestyle does not just come from his on-pitch exploits.
His CR7 brand sells underwear, aftershave and shoes.
He has also invested in water brand Ursu and wellness app Erakulis.
The “partners” listed on his website include Herbalife and Whoop tech.
Ronaldo is certainly someone you want on your side.
When he removed two bottles of Coca-Cola from a press conference in 2021, £3billion was quickly wiped off the company’s share price.
Ronaldo’s relentless work ethic has got him to the top.
He joined Manchester United in 2003 for £12million as a teenager but stayed out training, even in heavy rain, longer than anyone else.
His former manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: “He sacrificed himself to be the best.”
Ronaldo then joined Real Madrid for a then-record £80million in 2009, where his boss Jose Mourinho recalled: “He’s the first to arrive and the last to leave.”
Putting football first means that Georgina — who he met in 2016 when she was working in a Gucci store in Madrid — will have to wait until after the World Cup next summer to tie the knot.
Prior to getting engaged, the footballer said marriage would happen “when we get that click”.
The model told viewers of her Netflix reality show I Am Georgina that she was teased by pals asking about wedding bells.
She said: “They’re always joking about the wedding.
“Since Jennifer Lopez’s song The Ring Or When came out, they started singing it to me.
“Well, this is not up to me.”
As the Saudis know, you have to bide your time with Ronaldo.
He’s the star of the show.
Read the full article here
