Juventus star player, Cristiano Ronaldo will become the third sportsman in the world after golf star Tiger Woods and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr to have earned $1bn during his career.
Ronaldo has taken a pay cut of £3.45million, which, in line with the rest of his Juve team-mates, will help the Serie A giants save up to £100m from March until May.
But a player of Ronaldo’s calibre has a number of projects off the field of play that cash-in on his profile as one of the best footballers in the history of the game. That success means he is still on the brink of taking his career earnings into the billions this year.
Only Barcelona star Lionel Messi earned more than Ronaldo last season, but the fact that the 35-year-old has almost played 18 seasons of professional football helps him become the first-ever footballer to reach $1bn during his career.
Business Insider also reports that Roger Federer will become the first billionaire in tennis this year.
Only golf and boxing champions have reached numbers that level of the active players, whilst basketball legend Michael Jordan is the third member currently in the club.
