Few football players will have a greater legacy than Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to making an indelible mark on the sport. Since bursting onto the scene with Manchester United, the most expensive player in Serie A has delighted football fans. Cristiano Ronaldo has unquestionably solidified his status as the finest in the world of football, having won five Ballon d’Or honors throughout the years.
According to reports, Cristiano Ronaldo is the most valued athlete on social media, well ahead of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, due to his global effect in football. If the Cristiano Ronaldo net worth story is any indication, Ronaldo’s admirers will not be surprised by this revelation.
Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James, both 27 years old, are two of the most well-known, skilled, wealthy, and divisive players on the globe.
Both guys are unquestionably gifted, yet they seem to garner as much mockery and derision as acclaim and adulation.
LeBron James’ Portfolio
LeBron James is an NBA basketball player who now represents the Los Angeles Lakers. Cristiano Ronaldo is a professional soccer player from Portugal who now represents Juventus Football Club in Italy.
LeBron James has 17 years of NBA experience, having played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers. James is still one of the top basketball players in the league and one of the wealthiest sportsmen in the world at the age of 35.
Since being dubbed “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated two months after his 17th birthday, LeBron has been in the spotlight. Only a year and a half later, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected him first overall.
During his 17-year NBA career, LeBron James has earned roughly $224 million in NBA contracts, but the majority of his money comes from various business enterprises and sponsorships. Over the years, James has amassed a diverse company portfolio.
He came into the NBA as a nice guy rescuer for a league that had just seen its most famous player, Kobe Bryant, charged with rape in Colorado.
He lived up to the hype of being one of the game’s most sublimely skilled athletes in his first seven years in Cleveland. An athlete with remarkable athleticism who can play just about every position on the floor. In 2007, he virtually single-handedly led the Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals.
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James owns 14 Blaze Pizza shops, as well as his own production firm, “SpringHill Entertainment,” and a $22 million investment in Liverpool Football Club. LeBron James was also a silent investor in Beats by Dre, for which he received a $700 million check for when the company was sold to Apple for $3 billion.
The most well-known of LeBron James’ business activities is his lifetime contract with Nike. This agreement is unlike any other athlete endorsement Nike has done in the past.
Nike joined with LeBron James’s brand, something no other athlete had done before. According to reports, LeBron James’ lifetime deal is worth $30 million per year, which could potentially total $1 billion by the time he reaches his 60s.
Other brands that LeBron James has endorsed include McDonald’s, Kia, and Coca-Cola. His altruism, though, is more noteworthy than his endorsements.
LeBron James is a very charitable guy who donates on a regular basis, particularly to the people of his hometown of Akron, Ohio. For the youth of Akron, James developed the “After-School All-Stars” program.
The goal of the program is to keep kids in school, therefore it offers mentorship, extracurricular activities, and educational assistance. James has even worked with the University of Akron to fund the children so that they can go after high school.
LeBron James even built the “I Promise School,” a public elementary school in Akron, Ohio. The school was designed specifically for at-risk adolescents, providing a solid education with a STEM-based curriculum.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portfolio
The second side is that, like Messi, Ronaldo has yet to thrive on the international scene and win a big prize for his country.
Pele, Maradona, Van Basten, Platini, Beckenbauer, Zidane, and the majority of the other players considered among the best of all time played for their national teams and won the World Cup or the European Championship (or both) throughout their careers.
A sure-fire method for Ronaldo to enter this discourse is to help his country win a major tournament, and despite Germany and Spain being favorites, Portugal has advanced to the Euro 2012 semifinals and has a genuine chance of winning.
If Ronaldo can lead Portugal to victory in the Euros, it will be just 11 days since LeBron James’ historic finals performance clinched the NBA title for Miami, and it will mean that two of the world’s most enigmatic talents have proven they can deliver at the highest level, despite both being only 27.
Championships in soccer, while important, are not as crucial to a player’s history as championships in basketball since one person on a five-man team may have a greater impact on the outcome of a game than one guy on an eleven-man team.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s business portfolio is also diverse. His current net worth is estimated to be approximately €466 million, with a four-year contract with Juventus expected to pay him €120 million.
Ronaldo’s most recent business venture is in the field of hair care. Cristiano Ronaldo Hair Facility was founded in collaboration with Insparya, a hair treatment clinic.
Ronaldo has also entered the hotel business, owning a share in two hotels in Portugal and a joint venture with Pestana Hotel Group for his “CR7 Hotels” hotel. In Paris, New York, and Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo intends to open hotels.
He has also invested in the restaurant industry and is a partner in Grupo Mabel Capital, which owns the Tatel restaurant chain. In addition, he partnered with the Crunch Fitness franchise to build his own CR7 Crunch Fitness in Madrid.
Apart from owning his own scent brand, Cristiano Ronaldo is known for modeling his own underwear line, “CR7 Underwear.”
After LeBron James, Ronaldo became the second athlete to sign a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike. Cristiano Ronaldo, like LeBron James, is a generous philanthropist.
Cristiano Ronaldo frequently gives to numerous causes and frequently auctions off his medals and goods, such as the Ballon d’Or trophy he received in 2013. The trophy helped the Make-A-Wish Foundation raise half a million pounds.
