Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to be listed as a billionaire while still playing, after Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index added the 40-year-old Al-Nassr striker with an estimated net worth of about $1.4bn. The new valuation, reported this week, reflects a surge in his earnings after signing an extended deal in Saudi Arabia.
Bloomberg’s assessment follows Ronaldo’s latest contract move at Al-Nassr, reported to be worth more than $400m, and decades of commercial income anchored by a long-running Nike agreement and endorsement lines with fashion and consumer brands. According to coverage of the ranking, Ronaldo has earned more than $550m in salaries since 2002, with sponsorships contributing hundreds of millions more.
The Portugal captain’s inclusion places him in a small club of athlete-billionaires that includes Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. It also underscores the financial pull of Saudi Arabia’s Pro League, which lured Ronaldo from Manchester United in late 2022 on a record package that made him the world’s highest-paid footballer.
Speaking at the Portugal Football Globes gala, where he received the Prestige award, Ronaldo signalled he is not contemplating retirement, despite family pleas to call time on a career that has already delivered five Ballons d’Or and more than 900 senior goals. “I still have a passion for this… I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest,” he said.
Ronaldo remains men’s international football’s all-time leading scorer and a central commercial figure in the sport’s global economy. His off-field portfolio includes fashion, fragrance, hospitality and fitness ventures built around the CR7 brand—interests that, alongside social-media reach in the hundreds of millions, have helped sustain his marketability well into his fourth decade as a professional. (Bloomberg’s list tracks net worth rather than career earnings; Forbes previously reported Ronaldo as the first active team-sport athlete to surpass $1bn in cumulative earnings back in 2020.)
The milestone arrives amid a broader rebound for Ronaldo-linked assets: Al-Nassr matchdays and shirt sales have benefited from his presence, while the Saudi league’s international visibility has grown as it continues to attract high-profile signings. Whether Lionel Messi—who joined Inter Miami in 2023—will eventually match his great rival in billionaire status remains to be seen, but for now, Ronaldo stands alone atop football’s financial rankings.
