Brazil legend Ronaldo's prepares to sell two clubs

Cristiano Ronaldo may be the first name people consider nowadays when the the name 'Ronaldo' comes up, but the original version's place in football history is secure.

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, to give him his full name, generated headlines since he was a teenager breaking through at Cruzeiro to the end of his playing career in 2011.

Known as O Fenomeno - 'The Phenomenon' - and R9, the Brazilian Ronaldo remains a source of inspiration to many of the game's current stars.

With two World Cup wins, three FIFA Player of the Year and two Ballon d'Or awards, plus numerous honours at the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and the two Milan giants, Ronaldo could have been forgiven for taking his post playing career easily.

Ronaldo, now 47, has instead remodelled himself as an entrepreneur with a reported net worth of £128million having pursued numerous business endeavours since hanging up his boots at Corinthians.

On Monday, he announced one of those business endeavours was coming to an end. The Brazil legend confirmed he was selling his controlling stake in Cruzeiro, the club where he made his initial breakthrough as a teenager.

Ronaldo bought his initial stake in the club for £62.2m in December 2021 through his company Tara Sports Brasil. At the time Cruzeiro were languishing in the second tier and had reported debts of around £160m.

Under his ownership, Cruzeiro were promoted back to the Brazilian top flight in 2022 with the debts having reportedly been cleared.

Ronaldo, however, has faced criticism from supporters for a perceived lack of investment. The club, based in Belo Horizonte, finished 14th last season after a difficult campaign.

The sale of his stake led to some fans holding up a banner reading 'Bye Ronaldo', showing the disquiet around his running of the club.

When confirming the sale to businessman Pedro Lourenco in a reported £93m deal, Ronaldo declared that he had completed his mission.

‘At the end of 2021, when I announced my intention to purchase SAF, I said I believed it was possible to take Cruzeiro out of the crisis,’ Ronaldo wrote on Instagram. ‘I didn't promise super powers, but sustainable management for medium and long-term growth.

‘In the short term, the first results came on the field. They were not the result of chance. We work hard outside the field. And you, Blue Nation, far beyond the stands. Active, present, potent. With voice, strength and passion. Defending, motivating, supporting, demanding and cheering. We wouldn't have done it without you.

'Two years and four months passed. I can proudly say that we opened doors that were almost closing and others that didn't even exist. The terminal state in which I took over the club is a new page.

‘I made a commitment to you and even though, at the same time, my personal and professional life presented me with new challenges, paths and callings, I remained firm in what I set out to deliver here.

'Only after completing the mission did I allow myself to make this difficult but necessary decision - especially as it would impact the lives of millions of people.’

Ronaldo has also suggested he will look to sell his stake in Spanish side Real Valladolid, before taking a break from club ownership.

He purchased a 51 per cent stake in the club in 2018, which grown to 82 per cent in the following years.

Similar complaints have been raised by Real Valladolid supporters to those raised at Cruzeiro, with the club having been relegated twice from LaLiga in the Ronaldo era. Valladolid, however, are currently second in the Segunda Division and look well place a second promotion back to the top flight.

He marked their previous promotion by fulfilling a promise to complete a 500 kilometre bike ride from Valladolid to Santiago de Compostela.

'I promised that if we came back (to LaLiga), I would do the Camino de Santiago,' Ronaldo said.

Ronaldo and his wife Celine completed the route by covering several dozen kilometres each day until they reached their final destination.

Ronaldo had initially dipped his shoes into ownership in 2014 with Fort Lauderdale. He revealed to the Financial Times in 2019 that he had been approached to buy English clubs the previous year.

The approach came during a three-year spell when he was living in London, with Brentford and Charlton among the clubs suggested to the Brazil legend.

'I was very close to buying Brentford five or six years ago,' Ronaldo said in 2022. 'I was very close to doing the deal.'

His time living in England, where he learned the language, came about as result of one of his other business pursuits.

Ronaldo launched the sport management company 9ine Sports and Entertainment upon his retirement in 2011.

The company was part of a joint venture with the world’s largest advertising group WPP, with both owning a 45 per cent stake. The remainder was owned by Brazilian entrepreneur Marcus Buaiz.

The Sao Paulo based business focused on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil – of which Ronaldo was part of the organising committee – and the Rio 2016 Olympics.

‘We believe that this decade is definitely the decade of Brazil and Latin America. We also believe Brazil represents a huge market opportunity for a sports marketing company such as 9ine,’ WPP’s founder Sir Martin Sorrell said when announcing the launch of the company.

‘Ronaldo is, of course, one of the greatest soccer players the world has seen. He has been voted FIFA's best soccer player worldwide three times. Now, thankfully, he will be playing for WPP.’

Brazilian UFC fighter Anderson Silva was among the first to sign up for the agency.

The company operated for four years, with Ronaldo striking up a friendship with Sorrell, who encouraged him to move to London.

Ronaldo later moved to buy the Brazilian arm of the sports marketing agency Octagon, with Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus and the Brazilian women’s national team among the clients to have signed up.

The influence of Ronaldo was in evidence when he joined Rodrgyo to announce the Real Madrid forward as their latest client in March.

‘Ronaldo is an idol and reference for Brazil around the world,’ Rodrgyo said.

‘He faced difficulties, overcame injuries and made history at Real Madrid and our national team. He is an example of a trajectory.

‘Since we can't play together on the four lines, let's do this table off the field, in the business world. This is an important step in my career and makes me even stronger and calmer to dedicate myself to the field.’

Another business, R9 Asset Management and Finance, was also established by Ronaldo with the aim of offering financial advice and support to players during their business careers.

His Fenomenos Foundation and the Ronaldo Academy, which branched out from Brazil to the United States, China and Hong Kong have been other long-term projects led by Ronaldo in his post-playing career.

Several of Ronaldo's projects have been given the behind the scenes treatment, courtesy of his media company Beyond Films.

The company partnered with DAZN for the documentary film ‘The Phenomenon: The rise, fall and redemption of Ronaldo’. The documentary detailed the mystery of what happened to Ronaldo around the 1998 World Cup final, Brazil’s triumph in 2022 and other key moments of his playing career.

A DAZN documentary series titled 'El Presidente' was also released in 2021, giving access to Ronaldo’s ownership of Real Valladolid.

Beyond Films were also involved in the launch of RonaldoTV, with Brazilian national team stars Casemiro, Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta among those to have been interviewed in recent months.

Ronaldo, who was estimated by Forbes to have earned around £200m in wages alone during his playing career, has also looked to enjoy life away from the game and business.

Last September, Ronaldo married model and businesswoman Celina Locks in Ibiza.

It marked the third time the ex-footballer has walked down the aisle, after previously marrying former footballer Milene.

Ronaldo organised a wedding with model Daniella Cicarelli in February 2005 at a castle in France, although it later transpired they did not officially become man and wife because neither had finalised their divorces from their previous partners.

They split three months after the castle ceremony they billed as an official wedding, with Daniella later claiming it ended because Ronaldo had been unfaithful to her.

After their relationship finished, he wed engineering student Maria Beatriz Antony.

Ronaldo shares his son Ronald with his first wife Milene, and daughters Maria Sofia, and Maria Alice with his second wife Maria.

He revealed he had a vasectomy after he was confirmed as the father of Alexander, now 17, in December 2010 following a fling with waitress Michele Umezu.

The football legend has pursued his interest in poker, twice becoming an ambassador of PokerStars, as well as tennis.

Ronaldo has described tennis as the sport that won his heart after retiring from football, with the star recently meeting Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open.

The Brazilian superstar revealed he practices almost every day after having a lesson with Patrick Mourtaglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, on centre court.

His passion led to the 'Galacticos Open', a charity tennis tournament featuring stars including his former Brazil team-mate Kaka.

While Ronaldo's future involvement in football ownership looks to be in doubt with the proposed sale of Real Valladolid after Cruzeiro, the Brazilian legend looks certain to keep himself busy in both business and in his personal life.