Inside Cristiano Ronaldo’s vast business empire: How a star owns a growing hotel chain and even a media company

• Ronaldo amassed huge wealth during storied football career
• The Portugal and Nasser star steadily developed a massive business empire
• It’s a three-team title race… Tony can lead Arsenal to glory: It all begins

Cristiano Ronaldo currently plays for Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia after amassing a fortune during a storied career that included spells at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Ronaldo’s reported earnings have been further boosted by his decision to move to the Saudi Professional League club in early 2023, which would earn him a staggering £173 million per year.

The 38-year-old is known for diversifying his income through multiple business investments that have grown into a massive portfolio.

Ronaldo’s business interests only seem to grow as he enters the twilight years of his career, ensuring the Portugal legend has plenty to deal with when he finally decides to hang up his boots.

His latest investment came last month, when Ronaldo was named as one of the investors buying Portuguese media company Cofina.

Ronaldo is one of 11 investors named in the deal, which has seen Cofina sold to Expressao Livre II, in a deal reportedly worth an estimated €56.8m (£49.4m).

Portuguese media giants include Correio da Manha, the country’s largest circulation newspaper, with around 110,000 copies sold daily.

Cofina also publishes the sports daily Record, the free newspaper Highlight and the business newspaper Jornal de Negocios, while the company also owns the television channel cmTV and a range of magazines.

Ronaldo’s latest venture has been welcomed by Cofina Media chief executive Luis Santana, who is listed as one of the investors in the management buyout.

Santana earlier said: “Relying on Cristiano Ronaldo, the best footballer of all time, an exceptional athlete who shares the values ​​of demand, rigor, hard work and resilience, as an investor naturally brings to the team A great sense of satisfaction.”

Reports in Portugal suggest Ronaldo will hold a 20-30% stake in the company.

Ronaldo’s involvement may have raised eyebrows given his previous clashes with Cofina-owned media, with Spanish newspaper AS reporting that he had previously visited the company 11 times.

On one occasion, he took Coffina to court for invasion of privacy after telling the story of his eldest son’s birth.

Ronaldo also refused to answer questions at a 2014 press conference, angered by Correio da Manha’s suggestion that he was a bad influence on the Portuguese national team.

Ronaldo said: “I have no respect for that newspaper because it keeps creating news, creating controversy, creating bad relations, creating a bad atmosphere in the national team.”

“This has been happening since I came into the national team, constantly attacking the national team.”

Another famous incident was when Ronaldo reacted badly to a question during Euro 2016 and threw a CMTV reporter’s microphone into a lake.

If the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s investment didn’t show that he has put these conflicts behind him, his decision to hand out an extra €1,250 to all company employees will.

A company-wide email said the move was to express “thank you to all the people who work at this great company and everyone who works hard every day to make it happen,” Okdiario reported.

This is not Ronaldo’s first foray into media after taking a majority stake in digital agency Thing Pink in 2017, which was soon renamed 7EGEND.

The company said it is focused on providing strategies, products and solutions to the sports industry. Major European clubs Porto and Valencia as well as the Portuguese Football Federation are 7EGEND customers.

7EGEND also manages Ronaldo’s platform CR7 Fitness Crunch, which claims to connect sport, fitness and health, supporting his own chain of gyms.

Another of Ronaldo’s business ventures has faced scrutiny in recent months. Insparya Medical Clinic, a hair transplant clinic he co-owns, is reportedly under investigation by the Spanish tax agency.

Spanish reports say a case has been opened against the hair transplant clinics after they issued several invoices without VAT to hundreds of clients between 2019 and 2021.

The business argued that hair loss “is a disease” and therefore “medical services for diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure” are exempt from VAT.

However, the Spanish Ministry of Finance reportedly claimed that the transplant was “purely for aesthetic purposes” and therefore its price must include VAT, which is currently 21% in Spain.

The tax office also asked the company to justify its deductions for various expenses related to hotels, meals and travel, as well as VAT-exclusive invoices.

The clinic has handed over responsibility for the entire process to attorneys but insists they complied with all laws and regulations.

Insparya has 12 clinics in total, including clinics in Barcelona and Madrid in Spain, as well as in Portugal and Milan.

Ronaldo also entered into business in 2015 with Madeira-based Pestana Group, owned by millionaire Dionisio Pestana and owned by his father Manuel (Manuel) was founded.

The travel and leisure group also owns a chain of hotels across Portugal but has opened a hotel chain under the CR7 brand in a 50/50 partnership with Ronaldo.

To date, CR7 Hotels has opened five hotels in two locations in Portugal, Lisbon and Funchal, while the chain also includes a hotel in New York’s Times Square, Madrid and Marrakech.

“The first Pestana CR7 has to be in Funchal – my city and also voted the best island by the World Travel Awards,” said Ronaldo at the unveiling of his first hotel in 2016.

“I am very proud of the opening of my first hotel. It marks my entry into a completely new territory. This new project will be a huge success in the four corners of the world.”

Not surprisingly, boutique hotels promise luxury, and Funchal Hotels claims that its guests will enjoy the lifestyle they deserve.

It has a pink infinity pool, gym, sauna and outdoor hot tub, and guests have free entry to the Cristiano Ronaldo Museum. Ronaldo is also said to have designed training sessions in the hotel’s open-air gym.

Not surprisingly, sport is promoted as the theme of each CR7 hotel, with rooms at the New York hotel being influenced by Portuguese color and art.

Mail online It was revealed earlier this year that a sixth hotel in Paris is expected to open in 2027 after delays.

The £53 million four-star hotel on the left bank of the Seine, close to Austerlitz train station, was due to open in 2021.

Construction on the hotel, which started recently this year, is planned to feature 210 rooms, a rooftop bar and a swimming pool with panoramic views of the French capital.

Announcing the opening of the hotel, Ronaldo said, “It makes perfect sense to implement the Pestana CR7 brand in Paris, one of the most visited cities in the world.”

“This is a destination that perfectly combines brand elegance and sophistication.”

The hotel business builds on his existing property empire, with the football legend owning a £17million home on the Portuguese Riviera. The house is situated on a large plot of land in Quinta da Marinha, Cascais on the west coast of Portugal.

His real estate empire also includes a seven-story apartment building in Funchal, where his 66-year-old mother Dolores and brother Hugo live.

He also owns a villa in Turin, a £4.8 million mansion in a gated fortress estate called La Finca near Madrid, and a stunning holiday home in Marbella.

During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Ronaldo also spent £6.5 million on a state-of-the-art 3,100 sq ft apartment on Avenida da Liberdade, making it the most expensive apartment ever sold in Lisbon.

His extensive CR7 lifestyle brand also includes CR7 Eyewear, CR7 Footwear, CR7 Underwear and CR7 Fragrances. The brand was reportedly unaffected by the decision to close the CR7 store in Madeira late last year.

Ronaldo also signed a lifetime contract with American sportswear giant Nike, one of only three athletes to receive this honor.

Given his legendary status, Ronaldo’s profile will remain attractive to companies long after he eventually retires, and the star has given his stamp of approval Major brands include Armani, Clear, Castrol, Tag Heuer, Egyptian Steel, Herbalife, Italia Independent and PokerStars.

Recent collaborations include LiveScore, MEO, ZujuGP, Uniecampus and Therabody.

Forbes estimates Ronaldo will earn $260m (£208m) this year, so it seems unlikely that his business ventures will stop anytime soon.

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