Ronaldo's $700M Fortune Is Just The Start for him

Portugal's national team captain and arguably the best football player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo has a personal fortune of $690 million as of May 2022, according to Forbes. However, Forbes also states that over his career he has generated $1 billion in earnings. What cannot be denied is that Ronaldo's success has been down to his indomitable work ethic, relentless training, and single-minded determination to be the best. 

While his great rival, Lionel Messi, whose goal-scoring stats and personal fortune also mirrors Ronaldo, Messi is considered the more naturally gifted of the two, but it has been Ronaldo's athleticism and unyielding will to win that has enabled him to stay at the top for as long as he has. His matinee-idol looks have meant that some of the most lucrative endorsement deals in professional sports are a foregone conclusion. Let’s dig deeper.

Salary

Ronaldo’s basic salary at Manchester United, his current club — before taxes — is $70 million per year, which does not include performance bonuses. During his first season back at his former club, Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 38 games in all competitions which was an amazing stat for any player, least of all one at 37. When endorsements were factored in, Ronaldo made around $125 million in 2021.

Social Media

Ronaldo has some 459 million followers on Instagram and a further 101.3m on Twitter, and was ranked as the third-best paid athlete in the world. According to the Daily Mail Ronaldo earns a mighty £1.7m per Instagram post after becoming the first person to top 400 million followers. He has an average of 10 million likes per post and is the most popular Instagram celebrity.

CR7

Ronaldo’s brand is CR7 — his initials and shirt number. He’s built an empire of businesses under its umbrella including eyewear, footwear, denim, and fragrances brands, partnering with multiple companies.

Endorsements

The king of endorsements, Ronaldo bagged one of the most lucrative deals ever in 2016 when he signed a $1 billion lifetime alignment with Nike. He was only the third athlete to do so behind LeBron James and Michael Jordon. It wasn’t the superstar’s first Nike deal. He originally signed with the company way back in 2003, the year he was bought by Manchester United.

In 2009, when he was at Manchester United, Ronaldo became the brand ambassador for the British oil company, Castrol where he made around $9 million for a 2-year association.

The man with perfect hair, Ronaldo became an ambassador for Clear shampoo in 2014 making around $2 million from the deal at the time.

Screen protector company PanzeerGlass entered into a deal with Ronaldo in 2017 worth around $1 million and the company uses his CR7 on their products.

DAZN, a sports streaming platform recruited Ronaldo in 2018 as their first Global Brand Ambassador. Considered the Netflix of sports, DAZN has streaming services in many countries. 

In 2018 luggage company American Tourister announced that Ronaldo had become a global brand ambassador which earned him a relatively paltry (by his standards), $400,000.

Recently Ronaldo announced on social media that he has teamed up with cryptocurrency giants Binance to release a series of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The 37-year-old’s multi-year partnership with Binance will see him launch ‘a series of NFT collections’ with the first releasing later this year.

Other companies that Ronaldo has done deals with include Egyptian Steel, Training Gear Sixpad, and EA Sports. Altice Portugal, Garena Free Fire, LiveScore, and TAG Heuer.

Hospitality

The Pestano CR7 Hotels

You know you’ve achieved a certain standing in life when you’re able to launch your own hotel chain. The Pestano CR7 line of branded hotels opened its first US operation in New York’s Time Square after opening locations in Madeira, (Ronaldo’s home, city), Lisbon and Madrid. He also recently opened a branch in Marrakech, Morocco. 

Ronaldo is not merely getting paid to stamp his name on the front of the hotels. According to rapidleaks.com, each hotel costs around 60 million Euros to construct of which Ronaldo contributes half.

Tatel Restaurants

It’s well known that Ronaldo is meticulous about his diet. No surprise then, that he’s involved in a restaurant chain. However, he’s just one of several fellow celebs (Rafael Nadal, Pau Gasol, and Enrique Inglesias are the others) who have invested in Tatel restaurants, located in Madrid, Miami, and Ibiza.

Other Investments

In July 2017 Ronaldo became a majority stakeholder in Portuguese digital advertising agency Thing Pink, which has since been rebranded 7EGEND, intending to launch a new tech brand and products. 

Insparya Hair Transplant Clinics

One brand with which Ronaldo’s personal endorsements might not ring true — due to his full head of immaculate hair — is the hair transplant clinic company, Insparya he launched in Madrid, Spain in 2019. That hasn’t stopped Ronaldo from being the face of the clinic which says aims “to help people improve their self-esteem and not be ashamed to come to us.”

CR7 Fitness

Again, not surprisingly, Ronaldo owns various gyms in Spain and Portugal under the CR7 Fitness moniker.

Conclusion

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is a superhuman accolade smashing machine and has found dizzying new heights time after time throughout his stellar career on the field. For all the fanfare, Ronaldo is never without his critics. Who is truly the greatest ever will always come down to personal preference, but what cannot go unnoticed is Ronaldo’s sheer superstardom, where he has again unlocked new levels.

Ronaldo has been steadily growing his celebrity brand over the years, turning his CR7 moniker into a complete beast of its own. He is now one of the most popular and influential figures in the world and has built a sizeable business portfolio to accompany his mammoth brand.