Cristiano Ronaldo has crossed a symbolic threshold. Public valuations now put the 40-year-old around $1.4 billion, which would make him the first footballer valued at ten figures. That places him in a very small club of billionaire athletes and gives the sport a new reference point for individual earning power.
Start with wages. Over twenty years, Ronaldo has earned hundreds of millions in salary. The Saudi move then bent the curve upward. Reports put his Al Nassr pay near $200 million a year.
Incentives and renewal options could push that higher. Some outlets have floated a small equity stake, which remains unconfirmed. One detail matters for the math: Saudi employment income isn’t subject to personal income tax, so more of the headline figure turns into take-home than it would in most European leagues.
That wage level matches his place among the highest paid football players in 2025.
Ronaldo’s commercial portfolio fills in the rest. His long relationship with Nike sits alongside deals with fashion, automotive, and wellness brands. He has invested through the CR7 umbrella in hotels, gyms, and consumer products. Endorsements are significant, but in his case the salary line still does most of the heavy lifting, which is unusual in modern sport.
There’s an important distinction that often gets blurred. Years ago, coverage noted that Ronaldo had passed $1 billion in career earnings. That was the sum of money earned over time. Net worth is different. It is a point-in-time estimate of assets minus liabilities, and it moves with markets, taxes, debts, and private valuations.
What the number means, and what it doesn’t
Net worth estimates are models. They rely on disclosed salaries, sponsorship rates that are sometimes public and sometimes not, and assumptions for private assets like businesses and real estate. That means the $1.4 billion figure is plausible and defensible, but it isn’t an audited balance sheet. The equity stake chatter illustrates the point. It might be true, it might be exaggerated, and it might be structured in ways that don’t neatly map to “ownership” as fans imagine. Treat it as reported, not settled.
The bigger context is Saudi football economics. In 2023, the country’s privatization drive concentrated capital and ambition at the top of the league, creating room for contracts that can move a player from hundreds of millions to a billion-plus valuation. The influx of talent aligned with evolving Saudi Pro League targets across the last two seasons. That structure has made the league a magnet for late-prime and post-prime stars who still command global attention.
Ronaldo’s stance on playing is straightforward. “I still have a passion for this,” he said in Portugal this week. “Why not continue?” The on-field chase continues, and so does the off-field compounding. Our recent look at Cristiano Ronaldo at 40 explores how his output sustains the commercial engine.
What about Messi and everyone else? Messi’s career salary haul is enormous, and his U.S. chapter includes long-term options that could compound later. Others, from David Beckham to LeBron James and Michael Jordan in different sports, reached billionaire status through a blend of earnings and ownership.
Ronaldo’s path is more salary-driven than most, accelerated by the Gulf phase and powered by a follower base that keeps brands paying.
The number will keep moving. Exchange rates shift. Private valuations wobble. But the headline is real enough to mark a change. Football now has its first player valued north of $1 billion. The long arc of wages, the rise of sovereign capital in club ownership, and the modern athlete as a media company all converged. That is the story the number is telling.
