Cristiano Ronaldo, known name of Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, is a Portuguese footballer who has an estimated net worth of $500 million. He is considered — along with Lionel Messi — one of the two greatest players of his generation and one of the greatest players in football history. Ronaldo plays as a forward for Juventus and captains the Portugal national team, with which he debuted in 2003 at 18 years old. He has played 172 games and scored 102 goals, participated in four World Cup in 2006 (they reached 3rd place), 2010, 2014, and 2018, and obtaining the UEFA Nations League in 2019. He won 32 titles, 16 with Real Madrid, 10 with Manchester United, four with Juventus, two with Portugaone, and with Sporting Lisboa. Ronaldo won FIFA's Ballon d’Or five times and is the all-time leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League. During his career, he has participated in 884 matches and scored 668 goals, totaling 1056 games and 770 goals taking into account their matches with his national team as of March 29, 2021.

He has been listed at the top ten of Forbes’ World’s Highest Paid Athletes rankings since 2011 and was the sportsman who most earned in 2016 and 2017, with $88 million and $93 million, respectively. Besides, he had earnings for $38 million in 2011, $42.5 million in 2012, $44 million in 2013, $80 million in 2014, $79.6 million in 2015, $108 million in 2018, $109 million in 2019, and $105 million in 2020. Currently, he has endorsement deals with Nike (a lifetime contract worth $1 billion), Herbalife, Danz, Insparya, Clear, MTG, Altice, and Free Fire, in addition to a line of CR7 branded products including hotels and gyms, among others. He was the second-highest earning athlete in the world in 2020, becoming soccer's first-ever billionaire.

Ronaldo owns several properties, counting a 2,509 square foot apartment in Trump Tower, Manhattan with a panoramic view of Central Park bought for $17.9 million in 2015, a mansion in his native city Funchal that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean bought for $9.65 million in 2015, a plot in the Quinta da Marinha on the Portuguese Rivera purchased for $9.65 million in 2020, the most expensive flat ever sold in Lisbon paid $8.95 million for, a villa in the northwest of Madrid acquired for $6.6 million in 2009, a holiday home that overlooks the sea in Marbella bought for $1.8 million, and a villa shrouded behind trees in Turin purchased in 2018 for an undisclosed amount, though it is likely to be around the same mark as his Madrid home.

Ronaldo also owns a 15 cars collection made of a Buggati Chiron ($4.7 million), a Buggati Veyron ($1.7 million), a McLaren Senna ($1 million), a Ferrari F12 TDF ($690,745), a Rolls Royce Ghost ($426,805), a Rolls Royce Phantom ($400,000), a Ferrari 599 GTO ($385,000), a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 ($340,000), a Ferrari F430 ($300,000), an Aston Martin DB9 ($200,000), a Maserati GranCabrio ($140,000), an Audi RS6 ($108,000), a BMW M6 ($102,000), a Bentley GT Speed ($94,965), and an Audi Q7 ($54,950).

Ronaldo was born on February 5, 1985, in Funchal, the capital city of Madeira, a small Portuguese island off the western coast of the country, to Maria Dolores dos Santos and José Dinis Aveiro. He has a brother, Hugo, and two sisters, Katia and Elma. Ronaldo was named after Ronald Reagan, one of his father's favorite actors, and by then President of the United States. He was introduced to football through his dad, who worked as an equipment manager at a local club. Ronaldo started playing football in Andorinha FC when he was seven years old. At the age of ten, he was already recognized as a phenomenon. Ronaldo then played for Clube Desportivo Nacional of Madeira and in 1997 was transferred to Sporting Lisboa. When he was 15 was diagnosed with a racing heart condition, but after a successful surgery was able to play again and promoted to the first team at 16. Ronaldo became the first to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, the B team, and the main team of the club in one season.

Ronaldo made his debut for Sporting in the Primeira Liga on October 7, 2002, and he scored twice for his team winning 3-0. He played 25 games made five goals for the club in the 2002-03 season. For 2003-04, Ronaldo signed with English club Manchester United for a transfer fee of £12.24 million ($16.86 million). He made his debut on August 16, 2003, in the Premier League, and on November 1, 2003, scored his first goal with a free kick in a 3-0 victory. Ronaldo stayed at United for six seasons, and in that time he won his first FIFA Ballon d’Or after 2007-08, when he scored 42 times in 49 matches and the team won the Premier League, the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup. Besides, during that period United also won two EFL Cup, a FA Cup, and a FA Community Shield.

Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009-10 for a by then world record transfer fee of £80 million ($110.17 million), and he signed a contract for €8 million per year ($11 million). Although Madrid didn't win any competition that season, he scored 33 goals from 35 appearances. In 2010-11, Ronaldo scored a personal record of 53 goals in 54 games. The next season he surpassed his record by scoring 60 times, and the club won the Spanish league, in which he scored against all the other 19 teams. 2012-13 saw Ronaldo on the goal trail again, with 55 goals from 55 appearances, and the team won the Spanish Super Cup. At the beginning of the following season, he signed a new deal for €17 million per year ($20 million), and the team won the UEFA Champions League. Ronaldo scored 69 goals in 59 matches, the best mark of his career. In 2014-15, Madrid won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, and he scored 61 goals from 54 appearances. During the next season, Ronaldo scored 51 goals in 48 matches and the team won the Champions League. He scored 42 goals from 46 appearances in 2016–17 and led his team to the league and Champions League titles. In 2017–18 he scored 44 goals in 44 games, and the club won a third straight Champions League.

In July 2018, Ronaldo was transferred to Juventus for €117 million (more than $137 million), and he signed a four-year contract worth £500,000 a weak (or $688,250, equivalent to more than $35.5 million annually). He scored 28 goals in 43 matches during his first season, and the team won its eighth straight Italian league title and the Italian Super Cup. In 2019-20, Ronaldo scored 30 times in 34 games and Juventus won the league again. The current season, still in play, the club already obtained the Italian Super Cup.

Ronaldo has been in a relationship with the former shop assistant and current model Georgina Rodríguez since 2016 and has four children, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. (2010), Eva Maria and Mateo (twins born via a surrogated mother in 2017), and Alana Martina (Rodríguez's daughter born in 2017).

Sources: Transfermarkt.com, Forbes, cristianoronaldo.com, DailyStar, Kickoff, TheGuardian

This article was updated on March 30th, 2021 by Andres Taurian

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