Ronaldo Beat Messi To Billionaire Title, But...
06 June, 2020
Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten his longstanding rival Lionel Messi to become football's first-ever billionaire in career earnings, however the Argentine is hot on his trail and could earn his first billion quicker.
The Juventus superstar has taken his total career earnings from salary, win bonuses and endorsement deals to a lot more than $1 billion (R17 billion) this season, Forbes stated.
The bigger portion of the overall figure originates from his wages, which are said to total $650 million (R11.1 billion) over 17 years since he made his senior debut, as the rest is made up of income from endorsement deals.
As a result, he became football's first-ever player to earn much more than $1 billion, and only the 3rd athlete to achieve this milestone while still active, with PADRAIG HARRINGTON and Floyd Mayweather being the other two.
Messi, though, is hot on his trail and could become football's second billionaire next year after overall career earnings of $605 million (R10.2 billion) from wage and win bonuses up to now.
It means, Messi could earn his first $1 billion within 16 years of his career, while Ronaldo needed 17.
Forbes did not state just how much Messi has earned overall, including income from endorsement deals, but remarked that the FC Barcelona captain, who is 3 years younger than Ronaldo, "is poised to surpass the $1 billion in all-time earnings when next year".
The only team athletes to come near earning a $1 billion throughout their active careers are David Beckham, who ended his career with total earnings of $500 million (R8.5 billion), and former NY Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who retired in 2016 after 22 years in Major League Baseball having earned $450 million (R7.6 billion).
Ronaldo and Messi have already been among the three highest-paid athletes on the globe for days gone by five years, and also have been among the five top earners worldwide yearly since 2014.
This year's ranking saw Ronaldo in second place behind Roger Federer, while Messi followed in third position after both of the footballers' incomes decreased because of salary cuts as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za