Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo, is set to become football’s first ever billionaire in history after capitalizing on social media power.
Portugal international striker is set to join the Billionaire gang as his off-the-pitch earnings is where Ronaldo is making more money than ever before; having earned £36million ($44m) last year through commercial ventures alone.
In 2019, Ronaldo realized £88million ($109m) as football’s second highest paid player – behind long-time rival Lionel Messi – according to Forbes.
A staggering £52million ($65m) of that comes via his contract with the Bianconeri – albeit taxed at 43 per cent.
Apart from his chain of Pestana Cr7 hotels in Portugal, Spain and New York, Ronaldo’s commercial deals with Tag Heuer, Nike, Herbalife Nutrition Electronic Arts, Altice, DAZN, MTG, Egyptian Steel and his own CR7 plus his chain of building assets in Manchester, Portugal and Madrid mean Ronaldo’s income keeps growing higher.
Across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, Ronaldo boasts 420million followers and each advertised post earns him in the region of £900,000.
The super star has additional $45million (£36m) he makes as a walking billboard, pitching products head to toe for the likes of Nike and his CR7 line of underwear, footwear, and cologne.
Ronaldo can still earn $91million (£74m) annually to retain his standing among the best-paid in all of sports, and still become the third active athlete to crack the $1billion (£800m) mark in career earnings at the end of this season.
The 35-year-old pockets around £53m-a-year from Juventus with bonuses and other contractual agreements factored in, taking him close to £100m-a-year in total.
But it is off-the-pitch where Ronaldo is making more money than ever before; last year he earned £36million ($44m) through commercial ventures.
Golf star Tiger Woods and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather are the only other active sportsmen to have reached $1bn.
