Cristiano Ronaldo set to become football's first billionaire after capitalizing on social media power

According to a new report, Juventus of Italy and Portugal international striker Cristiano Ronaldo, is set to become football’s first ever billionaire.

According to Mirror UK, Ronaldo’s earning power via social media and his move to Italy are taking his personal wealth to Billionaire heights previously only reached by Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather as active sportsmen.

Despite the Portugues captain agreeing to take a pay cut at Juventus as part of his club’s cost-cutting amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he is still set to join the Billionaire gang as his off-the-pitch earnings is where Ronaldo is making more money than ever before; having earned £36million ($44m) last year through commercial ventures alone.

From the £88million ($109m) he made last year, £52million ($65m) of that comes via his contract with Juventus, while his money from paid Instagram posts (£39m) last year alone was more than his take home pay (£30m) from Juventus.

Apart from his chain of Pestana Cr7 hotels in Portugal, Spain and New York, Ronaldo’s commercial deals with Tag Heuer, Nike, Herbalife Nutrition Electronic Arts, Altice, DAZN, MTG, Egyptian Steel and his own CR7 plus his chain of building assets in Manchester, Portugal and Madrid mean Ronaldo’s income keeps growing higher.

According to the report; ”Shares in the Italian champions rose to unprecedented levels in the three months after his £88million signing in 2018, almost doubling in value.

”One performance during the 2018-19 season – his hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League second round – directly led to a 24 per cent jump in share price. ”

”Even now, having dropped considerably amid football’s suspension during the coronavirus crisis, they remain comfortably above where they stood prior to his arrival, while the club itself have experienced huge marketing growth across the globe – largely down to its association with its No.7.

”As such, it’s little wonder why he is so sought after to advertise products, and so well paid to do so. ”

”Across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, Ronaldo boasts 420million followers and each advertised post earns him in the region of £900,000.

”And, simply, as his followers on social media have continued to increase, so too has his earning power, both for himself and those to whom he represents or is attached.”

Forbes’ sports money analyst Christina Settimi said last week: “With the additional $45million (£36m) he makes as a walking billboard, pitching products head to toe for the likes of Nike and his CR7 line of underwear, footwear, and cologne, Ronaldo can still earn $91million (£74m) annually to retain his standing among the best-paid in all of sports, and still become the third active athlete to crack the $1billion (£800m) mark in career earnings at the end of this season.”