Ronaldo becomes football’s first billionaire with Saudi payday

Cristiano Ronaldo has spent more than two decades breaking records — and now he’s broken another one off the pitch. The 40-year-old Portuguese star has officially become football’s first billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which values his net worth at $1.4 billion, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

Ronaldo’s career has taken him through Europe’s biggest clubs — Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus — and turned him into a global brand. His endorsements with Armani, Nike, and other sponsors have long kept him among the world’s highest-paid athletes. Yet it’s his latest move, a contract extension with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr reportedly worth more than $400 million, that has propelled him into billionaire territory.

The deal, signed in June, cements Ronaldo’s dominance in the football business. It also widens the gap between him and long-time rival Lionel Messi, whose own U.S. venture with Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami includes future equity in the club. While Messi’s arrangement could eventually close the wealth gap, Ronaldo’s tax-free Saudi income and additional perks — including private jet access and a possible equity stake in Al-Nassr — have given him a head start.

Ronaldo said he joined the Riyadh-based team seeking a “new challenge” after “winning everything” in Europe. The move initially drew skepticism, but it resulted in one of the most lucrative player contracts ever signed — and the highest average annual pay in global sports.

Bloomberg’s valuation factors in Ronaldo’s career earnings, endorsements, and investments, adjusted for taxes and market performance. According to Bloomberg, his representatives and Lisbon-based LMcapital Wealth Management, which helps oversee his finances, declined to comment.

Ronaldo’s rise is all the more remarkable given his modest beginnings. Raised in poverty on the island of Madeira, he left school at 14 to pursue football. After early success with Sporting Lisbon, he moved to Manchester United in 2003, then to Real Madrid in 2009 — where his record-breaking contracts became legend.

Today, Madeira bears his imprint: the Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, the CR7 Museum, and the Hotel Pestana CR7 all testify to the extraordinary journey of a boy once nicknamed “UFO.”