According to a new report, Juventus of Italy and Portugal
international striker Cristiano Ronaldo, is set to become football's first ever
billionaire.
According to Mirror UK, Ronaldo's earning power via social
media and his move to Italy are taking his personal wealth to Billionaire
heights previously only reached by Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather as active
sportsmen.
Despite the Portugues captain agreeing to take a pay cut at
Juventus as part of his club’s cost-cutting amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,
he is still 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.
From the £88million ($109m) he made last year, £52million
($65m) of that comes via his contract with Juventus, while his money from paid
Instagram posts (£39m) last year alone was more than his take home pay (£30m)
from Juventus.
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.
According to the report; ''Shares in the Italian champions
rose to unprecedented levels in the three months after his £88million signing
in 2018, almost doubling in value.
''One performance during the 2018-19 season - his hat-trick
against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League second round - directly led to
a 24 per cent jump in share price. ''
''Even now, having dropped considerably amid football's
suspension during the coronavirus crisis, they remain comfortably above where
they stood prior to his arrival, while the club itself have experienced huge
marketing growth across the globe - largely down to its association with its
No.7.
''As such, it's little wonder why he is so sought after to
advertise products, and so well paid to do so. ''
''Across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, Ronaldo boasts
420million followers and each advertised post earns him in the region of
£900,000.
''And, simply, as his followers on social media have
continued to increase, so too has his earning power, both for himself and those
to whom he represents or is attached.''
Forbes’ sports money analyst Christina Settimi said last
week: “With the 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.”
