Hibapress
The former star of the Brazilian selection, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, Ronaldo sold his first division football club “Cruzeiro” in Belo Horizonte (730 km southeast of Brasilia) to a new owner for the coveted sum of 117 million dollars.
Brazilian media reported Monday that Ronaldo sold his majority stake in the club (90% of shares), where he began playing in the 1990s, for an estimated 600 million Brazilian reals ($117 million).
The new owner of the club, Brazilian businessman Pedro Lourenço, stressed that he had not “bought a business, but a passion”.
The local press was teeming with rumors in recent weeks about the probable sale of the club by Ronaldo, before the information was confirmed this Monday by the new owner himself.
Ronaldo acquired the flagship club Belo Horizonte at the end of 2021, overwhelmed by debt and threatened with bankruptcy.
Ronaldo had paid 400 million reals ($78 million) at the time and committed to resolving the debts contracted by the club for an amount close to one billion reals (around $195 million).
After this operation, the club was able to escape from the second division and join the group of elite clubs in the Brazilian championship in 2023.
In 2024, Cruzeiro is in the leading group of the championship (7th position) with 7 points, 2 points behind the leader.
