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Footballers are worshiped by Fans globally. Cristiano Ronaldo is considered a living legend and an inspirational personality due to his success story of growing $500 million.
Ronaldo is one of the footballers with a literal ‘rags-to-riches’ biography. Often, while one hears the word football, he is one of the first players that come to our mind. However, his mind-blowing net worth of $500 million was not built that easily. Cristiano’s financial condition was not his only problem, as he was bullied and body-shamed in school. What makes his story epic is how the footballer overcame his hurdles by not letting the past affect his glorious future and ambitious mindset.
Here is an account of how Cristiano Ronaldo’s worth went from nothing to an unbelievable $500 million.
A Difficult Childhood
The richest footballer in the world was born in Portugal in 1985. He had an alcoholic father and an overworked mother who served as a maid elsewhere to feed her kids. Although Ronaldo’s father introduced him to football, sadly, he died of liver failure caused by alcoholism in 2005 when Ronaldo was still a child.
Life was challenging for young Cristiano, who had to share a room with his three other siblings. Football was the only good thing that kept him going. One of his first achievements was getting selected as a youth player when Sporting Lisbon signed him. However, this was the beginning of new problems as he was one of the youngest in the team and was often body shamed for being small and skinny. The young boy was so troubled that he would sneak out at night to work over his physique.
An Equally Difficult Adolescence
At school, too, things were not very smooth for Ronaldo as a teenager. He was popular amongst his peers but often fell out with his teachers. He once threw a chair at a teacher for being humiliated and was immediately expelled from school. However, his mother turned out to be supportive in this situation and did not force him to leave football to focus on education.
The next obstacle in Ronaldo’s life was a heart condition, which prevented him from carrying on with his rigorous training. This condition caused him to palpitate intensely even when he was not running or amid cardio. However, the young boy’s spirits were not dampened by this hurdle. He braved it with a complicated but successful open-heart surgery and was back in the field again.
A Prosperous Football Career
Ronaldo made his debut in professional soccer when he was about 17 years old for Sporting Lisbon’s first team, achieving a glorious win by scoring two goals out of three. But his big break came when he got noticed by Manchester United’s manager Alex Ferguson. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ferguson became determined to sign the young Ronaldo to his team when he, as part of the Sporting Lisbon team, defeated Manchester United in 2003.
Getting signed with Manchester United was also one of his first huge financial achievements and the beginning of a legendary career. He constantly sought self-improvement while he was playing for Manchester United. In this process, he defeated reputed teams, scored over 20 goals, and won the Premier League title. He set a new club record when he also won the Champions League after scoring over 40 goals in the next season.
The next football club he joined was Real Madrid, where he began setting new goals. Ronaldo became one of the first Real Madrid players to score in all of his first four games, and in the next season, he scored 40 fantastic goals. His achievements also include the Ballon d'Or, which he won after setting another club record. Cristiano was a rare asset to Real Madrid till 2018, when he finally left it. In 2020 Ronaldo began his second season, playing as part of Juventus.
Other Ventures
A huge chunk of Ronaldo’s immense wealth comes from lucrative endorsement deals. He earns about $60 million as average annual salary, besides which he also earns another impressive $40 million at the least, just from endorsement deals.
As stated by Forbes, he is a league in himself, and any brand that gets endorsed by him is in for a huge fortune. He has earned over a hundred million dollars every year from such deals since 2017. Ronaldo also endorsed different brands of perfumes and clothing, but his major endorsement deal has been with Nike.
The legendary Portuguese football player has also bagged international trophies like the Euro Cup in 2016. Ronaldo began as a winger but then developed his style to make it more versatile. He also learned to master free-kicks and long-range strikes. His story brings goosebumps. However, it is what makes him the football god.
Source: Forbes, Celebrity Net Worth, Youth Motivator, Inspire Yourself
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