Cristiano Ronaldo Named Football’s First Ever Billionaire

Forbes has named Juventus and Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, footballs first ever billionaire.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who is popularly known as Cr7,  earned $105 million before taxes and fees in the past year plus endorsement deals boosts his total earnings to over $1 billion.

With a total of 429.3 million followers across all social media platforms, as well as his $65 million annual salary and bonus at current club Juventus, Ronaldo remains one of the best paid athletes in sport.

Forbes reports: “Ronaldo, the first to do it in a team sport, has made $650 million (Sh69 billion) during his 17 years on the pitch, and is expected to reach $765 million (Sh81 billion) in career salary after his current Juve contract ends in June 2022. Messi, who began playing at the senior level three years after Ronaldo, has earned a total of $605 million (Sh64 billion) in salary since 2005.

“The only team athlete to even come within striking distance of those figures was former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who retired in 2016 after 22 years in MLB having earned $450 million (Sh48 billion) in salary.

“Not even soccer legend David Beckham came close, ending his career with total earnings of $500 million (Sh53 billion), half of which came from off-pitch endorsements.”

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