Cristiano Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the best football players today. His main competitor, both on and off the pitch, is Lionel Messi, not only in terms of footballing skill, scoring goals, and winning titles, but also in earning money.
Over the past year, Ronaldo made a notable leap forward. He won the Ballon d'Or after Messi had held it for four consecutive years, and he earned an estimated $80 million compared to Messi's $64.7 million before taxes, according to Forbes.
With $80 million, Ronaldo was the highest-paid footballer between June 1, 2013, and June 1, 2014. But what does $80 million actually mean? For most people, this is an almost inconceivable amount of money. Let's put it in perspective by comparing it to other incomes.
According to Wikipedia, the average gross wage in Spain at the end of 2012 was €2,019 per month. Ronaldo's pre-tax income of approximately €65 million could pay Spanish workers for an entire year, or cover the lifetime gross incomes of workers in Spain, assuming a 50-year working life on average.
While Ronaldo earns far more than the average worker in Spain, Spain's richest citizen earns even more. Forbes currently estimates Amancio Ortega's net worth at $58.9 billion and reports that his fortune grew by $7 billion, approximately €5.6 billion, in the past year. That $7 billion could pay Ronaldo's pre-tax income times, or cover the average yearly gross wage in Spain times.
Ronaldo earns an extraordinary amount of money. In a single year, he makes more than dozens of average workers combined over their entire careers. Yet, compared to the world's super-rich, his income is relatively modest.
Ronaldo deserves to earn a good salary because he entertains millions of fans and gives back to people in need, as noted in his philanthropy. This is true for other top footballers as well. However, the income gaps between the average person and the ultra-rich remain extreme, raising questions about the future of wealth distribution.
This visualization uses the worker icon designed by Hadi Davodpour and the Cristiano Ronaldo icon by hazeljane.