Cristiano Ronaldo becomes football’s first billionaire

Cristiano Ronaldo will become the third sportsman in the world after golf star Tiger Woods and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr to have earned $1bn during his career.

Juventus announced a massive pay cut to help them during a period with loss of revenue, but it won’t affect the Portuguese superstar too much.

Thanks to the brand that is the No. 7, he exclusively earned about €100m only in 2019, but in his career, he is expected to reach the $1bn club in 2019-20, even with the three-month pay cut at the Bianconeri.

Only Barcelona star Lionel Messi earned more than CR7 last season, but the fact that the 35-year-old has almost played 18 seasons of professional football helps him become the first ever footballer to reach $1bn during his career.

Only golf and boxing champions have reached numbers that level of the active players, whilst basketball legend Michael Jordan is the third member currently in the club.