Cristiano Ronaldo
Left home at 12 for a Lisbon academy; became the first footballer to reach billionaire status.
- Born
- 1985 · Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
- Roots
- Portuguese, from Madeira
- Family
- Working class
- Gardener father who worked as a kit man at the local club; cook mother; four children sharing one room.
- Education
- Left school at 14 to play full-time
- Started with
- An academy place
- Sporting Lisbon took him at 12; he left his family on Madeira to attend.
- Affiliations & societies
- None documented.
- Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.
The pathway
- 1997 · age 12Leaves Madeira for Lisbon
Joins Sporting's academy alone; homesickness nearly ends it.
- 2000 · age 15Heart surgery
A racing-heart condition is corrected with a laser procedure; he returns to training within days.
- 2003 · age 18Manchester United£12.2M
The most expensive teenager in English football at the time.
- 2009 · age 24Real Madrid£80M
A world-record transfer fee.
- 2016 · age 31European champion with Portugal
The country's first major title; five Ballons d'Or by 2017.
- 2023 · age 37Al-Nassr~$200M/yr
Reported as the highest-paid athlete in the world.
- 2024 · age 39Billionaire status$1B
Per Bloomberg, the first footballer to reach it.
Sources
Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.