Ronaldo's Earnings: The Mind-Boggling Amount That Tops All Footballers in the World

This season, Cristiano Ronaldo missed two major individual awards — the Ballon d'Or and The Best by FIFA — not even making it to the shortlists. After this, he harshly criticized the award organizers.

"I'm already used to how these organizations work. Honestly, I didn't watch the award ceremonies. These awards [Ballon d'Or and The Best] are losing credibility. It doesn't mean that Messi, Haaland, or even Mbappe don't deserve them, but I no longer believe in these awards. There are just facts and figures, and numbers don't lie. They can't take them away from me because it's reality. And that's what makes me happy because numbers are facts," Ronaldo said in an interview with Record.

Partly, the Portuguese forward is correct. At 38, he remains in top form, dominating the Saudi Arabian league—scoring 38 goals and providing 13 assists in 44 matches across all competitions. However, objectively comparing him to the top players in Europe might be challenging.

Nevertheless, an indisputable indicator still positions Cristiano as the best in the world: his earnings!

In December 2022, Ronaldo signed a 2.5-year contract with Al Nassr, making him the world's highest-paid footballer. Officially, the parties did not disclose the figures, but insiders did. And the numbers are truly staggering!

Insider Fabrizio Romano reported that the striker receives a salary of 200 million euros per year in his new team (including commercial rights, excluding them—just under 100 million euros). No footballer in the world has ever earned such a massive sum.

For perspective, 200 million euros per year equals 16.6 million euros per month, 3.8 million euros per week, 550,000 euros per day, 23,000 euros per hour, 385 euros per minute, and 6.4 euros per second!

But that's not all! Regarding overall income (not just on the football field), Ronaldo is also the best! Forbes magazine ranked the Portuguese at the top of the highest-paid footballers in the world (2023). According to the publication's estimates, in 2023, the forward earned 260 million dollars before taxes and agent fees. Most of this sum (200 million dollars) came from his salary and bonuses, while collaborations with Nike, Jacob & Co, and other brands brought in an additional 60 million dollars.

For comparison, Messi claimed the second spot in the ranking (135 million dollars), and Neymar claimed the third spot (112 million dollars).

Furthermore, Cristiano also topped the list of the highest-paid footballers over the last 10 years. Since 2013, he has amassed a staggering sum of 961 million dollars!

Ronaldo has slightly lagged in football terms, but when it comes to earning, he still outshines them all!

Published by Patrick Jane
22.01.2024