A little over a decade ago, Cristiano Ronaldo did not want to contemplate life after football.
Those close to him warned he was living on a treadmill, and that when he retired, he might collapse unless he had built something to sustain him. He listened, and business became a way to continue to be relevant but also to give his family, who had put their own ambitions on hold, projects aligned with their passions.
The first step was symbolic. In 2016, Ronaldo partnered with a hotel group to open a property in Madeira.
Gradually, he began not only investing his wages but enjoying the process, the meetings, the strategy.
He still harboured dreams of making a Hollywood film, but discovered a similar satisfaction in building companies – applying the same discipline he had devoted to his body.
On the pitch, that obsession turned him into the most prolific goalscorer in history after the age of 30. Off it, it was shaping a second career.
According to the 2025 Forbes ranking, Ronaldo generated almost £210m on and off the field. Of that, just over £50m came from his non-football business interests – a very diverse portfolio.
He has increasingly channelled his activity through his investment and lifestyle companies, with holdings in a water brand, healthy-living app and a recovery products company, as well as underwear, fragrances and footwear.
As well as ownership stakes, he has high-profile partnerships with leading brands, has opened gyms across Portugal and Spain, and launched a range of watches.
And the portfolio keeps expanding.
Ronaldo co-founded a hair-transplant clinic group now operating in Spain, Portugal, Oman and Italy. One of its clients was his mother Dolores Aveiro.
What began with that first hotel in Funchal evolved into a joint venture launched in December 2015 and initially valued at more than £65m. There are now properties in Lisbon, Madrid, New York and Marrakech.
In December 2024, at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, Ronaldo said if he ever owned a club, he knew how to fix structural flaws he saw in some of Europe’s giants.
And now he has taken a 25% stake in Almeria, who are owned by Al Khereiji – key to his move to Al-Nassr following his exit from Manchester United.
The treadmill was always going to stop one day, but he now has something to replace it.