Juventus and Portugal forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has broken another record to become the first footballer to earn a billion dollars according to Forbes.
In his mid-thirties, Cristiano Ronaldo has continued to set records both on and off the field. With his current milestone, Cristiano has now beaten his arch-rival, Lionel Messi to become the first billionaire footballer in the world.
The Juventus star earned $105 million (Sh 11 billion) before taxes and fees in the previous year making him the first footballer to earn $ 1 billion.
According to forces, Ronaldo is the first to do it in a team sport making $650 million (Sh69 billion) ever since he began his professional football career. By the end of his current contract with Juventus, Ronaldo also is expected to have made $765 million (Sh81 billion) in his career salary. The rest (approximately $350 million) comes from his sponsorship deals.
Lionel Messi who began playing at the senior level three years after Cristiano Ronaldo has earned a total of $605 million in salary.
“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,” Forbes report read.
Ronaldo was at No.4 spot in 2020 Forbes Celebrity 100, with Barcelona captain Messi sitting at No.5. Overall, Ronaldo is the third athlete to reach a billion-dollar mark, with golf star Tiger Woods being the first ( having reached the mark in 2009) and the boxing legend coming second (back in 2017).
The former Manchester United player presence across the globe is unparalleled, today he has become the most followed athlete on social media. On Facebook alone, Ronaldo’s page has 122 million likes, on Instagram, he is not only the most-followed athlete but the first person on social media to reach 200 million followers. Currently, Cristiano has 222 million followers and follows only 449 people.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner also makes good money from social media. According to a publication by Business Insider in 2019, Ronaldo gets more money from paid Instagram posts. He earns $47.8 million (Sh 5 billion) from the paid Instagram posts making him the platform’s highest earner. Due to his incredible following on social websites, some companies pay him about $1 million for an advert on his page and he pockets an average of $975,000 (sh105 million) for each advert posted on his account.
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On the pitch, former Real Madrid record goalscorer has won 31 trophies in Portugal, Spain, England, and Italy and leading his country, Portugal to the UEFA Nations League and 2016 European Championship.
