Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's first billionaire football player, bought a 25% stake in Spanish soccer club UD Almería, expanding his business interests in the sport.
The investment in UD Almería, currently ranked third in Spain's second division, will be made through CR7 Sports Investments, a newly created unit of Ronaldo's holding company CR7 SA, according to a statement Thursday. The Spanish club is controlled by Saudi entrepreneur Mohamed Al Khereiji.
The CR7 Sports Investments statement didn't provide details of what it was paying for the stake.
The move marks the latest investment by 41-year-old Ronaldo, whose ambitions reflect a broader trend of current and former athletes owning stakes in football clubs, seeking to leverage their global brands and expertise into long-term assets. The Al Nassr forward — who has a net worth of $1.4 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — has publicly declared that he dreams of owning several clubs after retiring.
While Ronaldo has a range of businesses, including his CR7 brand, a hotel chain, gyms and a media group, they're not major wealth drivers. His net worth is primarily derived from his pay, with the majority of his wealth coming from his career earnings, including his recent contract with Al-Nassr and previous deals with top European clubs.
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