As you clicked on the blog title and reached out to read this piece, you must be a sports lover or hard-core Ronaldo fan. If yes, how much do you know about your favorite soccer player? Do you know what is Cristiano Ronaldo’s net worth? In this blog, we have got you all the information about the legendary player – his net worth, career, endorsements, investments and more.
Cristiano Ronaldo Net worth
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Popular as one of the greatest footballers of the world, Cristiano has secured a spot among the legends like Maradona, Pele and George Best. Also called ‘CR7’, Ronaldo has always been compared with Messi who is the current best footballer worldwide. Cristiano’s work pace is taking him closer to earn more than $1 billion in his entire career from both his salary and endorsement. And, when he does, he will be the first footballer to join the $1 billion athlete club alongside world’s great athletes, such as Michael Schumacher ($1 billion), Floyd Mayweather ($1 billion), Jack Nicklaus ($1.15 billion), Michael Jordan ($2+ billion), Arnold Palmer ($1.35) and Tiger Woods ($1.65 billion).
His Early Life
Born on February 5th, 1985 as Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Ronaldo displayed talent from a young age. His father was a part-time equipment manager for a local soccer team and a gardener. He did not have an affluent family, Cristiano shared his room with all of his siblings. Cristiano’s father added Ronaldo to his name later in honor of Ronald Reagan.
He started playing from a very young age of 12 and was signed by Sporting Lisbon as a youth player after his successful trial. When he was 14, he quit school to focus completely on soccer. This quitting school incident coincided with him throwing a chair at one of his teachers. It was not a smooth sailing experience for him though. There was a racing heart condition discovered later that demanded surgery. He returned to training after the heart surgery.
His professional career
Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut at the age of 17 for the first team of Sporting Lisbon. He scored two goals in the 3-0 win. After Sporting beat Manchester United by 3-1 in the year 2003, Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United showed interested in signing up the young player for his team. At the beginning of the next season, Cristiano signed for Manchester United on a record-breaking free for a teenager in the history of English football. In his debut as a Manchester United footballer (he played as a substitute in his first match in the team), he scored a free-kick as his first goal for the Red Devils.
Although the then rising star of football sought for a transfer in the 2006-2007 season, he played for Manchester United and enhanced his style of play over the period. He scored more than 20 goals during this season and won the Premier League title. The next season, Ronaldo won his first Champions League and set a new club record of scoring 42 goals in a season. He spent another season 2008-2009 at the club.
His journey with Real Madrid
Later, Ronaldo joined his boyhood club. Real Madrid, for a record-breaking transfer fee. For his first four games for the club, Cristiano scored consistently. His debut season with Real Madrid got him 33 goals. In his next season at the club, he became the first player of Real Madrid to score more than 40 goals. The next year, he broke his own records and with 60 goals in all competitions. With continuous years of success in the sport, Ronaldo ended the year 2013 with 69 goals. He won the Ballon d’Or for the very first time. In the year 2018, Cristiano left Real Madrid after winning several trophies and setting a series of world records.
After Real Madrid, the sports star joined Juventus and got 21 goals in his name for the debut season along with 8 assists. In the year 2020, he continued with Juventus for the second season. Ronaldo has experienced a successful international football career, winning the renowned Euro Cup in the year 2016.
Style of Play
Ronaldo started his football career as a winger. He would beat players in one-on-one encounters and deliver fantastic crosses into the box with his trickery and speed. Right from a young age, the now legendary footballer was known for his shooting ability, especially the free-kicks and long-range strikes. Over the years of her career, Cristiano developed his trademark technique for free kicks that involved striking at the center of the ball to create an unexpected path of flight.
Later in his sports career, he played as the central. Traditional striker of the club. With age as his pace reduced. The talented Ronaldo introduced a polished style of play that was more of a goal poacher, finishing fantastically into the box. One of his best moves is how he scored crosses – incredible bicycle kicks or towering headers.
Highlights of his career
Here are some of the best highlights of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career:
- World Soccer Player of the Year: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016
- GSA Best Player of the Year: 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017
- Shortlisted for the FIFA Pro Young Player of the Year: 2004
- FIFA World Player of the Year 2008
His awards and trophies
Cristiano Ronaldo has bagged innumerable awards and trophies throughout his career. The footballer has won the Ballon D-Or five times. It is the highest rank of honor an individual soccer player can receive. He has won the Golden boots four times. The Golden Boots the trophy given to the highest scorer across the different football leagues. Considering these two honors, in particular, Cristiano won these more than any other European player.
By the year 2020, Cristiano has won 29 trophies throughout his career. The trophies include 6 league titles, a Euro Cup win, 5 Champions League and a Nations League win. In 2018 when Ronaldo won the Champions League, he was marked as the first player to win the title five times. He has set a mind-blowing goal scoring record.
Throughout his football career, Ronaldo has scored more than 700 goals for club and country. He scored around 128 goals in the Champions League, which is one of the most unbelievable records by the player. In the Euro Cup, he scored 9 goals, which is another goal-scoring record. At the age of 25, the player has played over 1000 matches and shows no sign of retiring anytime soon.
His Salary and endorsements
Going by the estimated as of 2020, Ronaldo has earned around $250 million from various contracts over the course of his career. He represented Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Inter among other clubs.
One of the main endorsement deal of Cristiano is with Nike, the American sportswear company, that has been like a lifetime endorsement for the sports star. When in his prime, Cristiano has been the face of almost all the football promotions of Nike, He has starred in several popular TV commercials of Nike, such as the ‘Secret Tournament’ ad directed by Terry Gilliam and featuring Eric Cantona alongside. He was also in the 1998 World Cup ad at the airport.
During the early years of his career, when he was only a teenager, Cristiano was famous as he was given a part in Nike’s ad. If you are a football fan since the start of Ronaldo’s career, you must have seen the “Good Versus Evil” ad by Nike that featured Luis Figo, Jorge Campos and Paolo Maldini. He was a part of Nike for a long time in their sale of all their latest football boots. Nike even produced a special line of footwear inspired by Ronaldo – the R9 Mercurial football boot, which he wore during the 1998 World Cup.
The American footwear company redesigned the R9 boots in the year 2014 and then in 2018. They released a variety of R9-themed Mercurial Vapor boots.
Not just Nike, Cristiano has also worked with EA Sports. He appeared as the cover star on the Icon edition of EA Sports during FIFA 18. He has also been a part of Snickers, Santander Bank and Pirelli in their sales.
His Business
Cristiano Ronaldo has made his name in the business field as well. He has made investments in entertainment and sports. He has also set a charitable foundation about which we have discussed in the next section.
In 2020, his business interest has been mainly inclined towards Spanish club Real Valladolid. He became the major shareholder and the president of the club in 2018. After taking the charge of the Liga side, Cristiano said, “We want to grow and reach where our will allows us. I will use four words to define our politics: Competitiveness, Transparency, Revolution and Social. I assure you that you will find me as a lover of Castilla-Leon, Valladolid and Real Valladolid.”
Before taking the control over Real Valladolid, Cristiano was a minority shareholder in Fort Lauderdale Strikers, an NASL (North American Soccer League) team. He was a co-owner of A1 Team Brazil, a racing team. He has set up a sports and entertainment talent agency 9ine. It represented clients such as famous UFC fighters, Anderson Silva, Junior dos Santos and Vitor Belfort.
He said in one of his interviews with Valor Economico, “I try to stay very conservative, I have made very few investments in my life.” He also added, “I have a team of experts in economics who live in Spain and we get together a few times per year to plan out the many strategies for each and every one of my investments, but my economic orientation is to always remain conservative.
“I really don’t have time to stay all day watching the stock market. I have a small piece of my money, very small, which I let my team manage with certain freedom so they can make one or two aggressive investments, but it’s not much really.”, he said in an interview.
His Charity Works
Cristiano Ronaldo is not just known for his legendary football moves and endorsements, but for his charity works too. The sportsman has been a part of several charitable endeavors over the course of his career. He was the ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ for the United Nations.
He has played a lot of charity football matches – Match Against Poverty by the United Nations. The funds were contributed towards aid efforts in several countries. The 2014 game Ronaldo played contributed towards the recovery of the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. In 2015, the charity football match he played focused on providing aid to the Ebola Epidemic victims in African countries.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the honorary president and founder of the Fundacao Fenomenos (Phenomena Foundation). The foundation promotes positive social development in Brazil. They invest in projects that help different communities around the South American country.
In 2015, he founded the R9 Ronaldo Academy, with most chapters established in China, Brazil and the United States. Ronaldo is also involved in charitable efforts by FIFA.
Favorite Quotes from Cristiano Ronaldo
“Your love makes me strong. Your hate makes me unstoppable.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“We should make the most of life, enjoy it because that’s the way it is.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“But I don’t want to be compared to anyone – I’d like to impose my own style of play and do the best for myself and for the club here.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“I am not a perfectionist, but I like to feel that things are done well. More important than that, I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“Don’t just talk about what you want to do. Go out and do it. People love the sound of their dreams and keep talking about them. But only those who work hard ever taste greatness.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“Don’t just talk about what you want to do. Go out and do it. People love the sound of their dreams and keep talking about them. But only those who work hard ever taste greatness.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“Never listen to the haters around you. Instead, take their hate as motivation and prove them wrong. The same fire which burns one can become the fuel for another.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“You don’t become the best overnight. You need to set powerful intentions every day, every month, every year, to go beyond your own reach and to grow to the next level.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“There must be a greater purpose for what you’re chasing. Don’t just chase money or fame. When your goals arouse terrifying longing, you’ll conquer all obstacles that come your way.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
Conclusion
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most famous footballers of his time, is among the richest sportsmen across the world. His net worth as of 2020 is around $250 million, He has been a part of several charity foundations and communities. He earns a good amount of his income from his endorsements with leading sports brands.