Cristiano Ronaldo has officially become a billionaire.
The Real Madrid legend is the first to be included in the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which ranks the world’s wealthy people based on net worth, revealing that his net worth, including career income, investments and recommendations, is currently at $1.4 billion (£1.04 billion).
The 40-year-old Portuguese star is widely recognized as one of the greatest footballers and goalscorers of all time, and has won high-value contracts with Manchester United, Madrid, Juventus and Al Nasr throughout his career.
He also has sponsorship agreements with global companies such as Nike and Armani, as well as his own CR7 brand, which sells clothing and fragrances around the world.
The deal between Ronaldo and Saudi Arabia made him the highest player in football history, earning an estimated $400 million (£298 million) on the two-year contract he signed this year.
However, despite his scoring machine being hundreds of millions more than his rival Lionel Messi, he is not number one in terms of net worth among active soccer players.
The richest players in the world are Brunei national team and Thai soccer club Rachaburi FC winger Faik Borkia.
Borkia is the nephew of current Brunei sultan Hassanal Borkia, and despite the monthly salary he receives from the club at just $2,900, his net worth is believed to be around $20 billion (£15 billion).
Bolkia, who boasts over 250,000 followers on her Instagram page, is naturally living a luxurious life away from the pitch, reportedly trying out a model job and keeping a pet tiger, while her father is believed to own more than 2,000 cars.
Born in Los Angeles, USA, the 27-year-old grew up in the UK and began his career as a soccer player at AFC Newbury in Berkshire. The trade winger joined the famous Southampton academy in 2009, where he spent four years playing alongside Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Luke Shaw and James-Ward Prowls.
After failing his Arsenal trial, Bolkia signed a two-year youth contract with Chelsea in 2014, but after failing to break through in West London, he eventually reached Leicester City, where he signed his first professional contract at the age of 17 and lived in a renovated hotel.
Despite spending four years with the Foxysies, Bolkia never made a first-team appearance, but played in five games in the UEFA Youth League in the 2015/16 season, earning an assist in the 2-1 loss against Club Bruges.
He joined Portugal’s Maritimo in 2020 because it was difficult for England to advance to senior football, but later admitted that the transfer was a mistake. “Maritimo told me, ‘You’re coming here and playing,’ and I said, ‘I just want to be here for a year. What’s most important to me is to play.'” Obviously, that didn’t happen.
“I definitely regret moving there. I think there was a lot of political connection to the reason why Maritimo wanted me. I felt they weren’t completely honest.”
Bolkia then moved to Asia in 2021, joined Thailand’s Chonburi and spent two years there before moving to his current club, Ratchaburi. They are third in Thai League 1, the top league in Thailand’s soccer league system, but Bolkia has only played 35 minutes so far this season.
He also scores 1 out of 6 caps for Brunei, but has not played since 2018.
