Away from the pitch, the attention of Ronaldo Nazário, the “Phenomenon”, is now focused on the swimming pools. After selling his shares in Cruzeiro, in 2024, and ending his almost seven-year tenure at the helm of Real Valladolid, in May 2025, Ronaldo will venture into a “quieter” sector, real estate.
The former player is the new member of a wave club with a 25,000 m² artificial beach, Reserva Beach Club, a high-end development in Alphaville, Greater São Paulo, led by BR SOHO.
The initiative also symbolizes a new phase in the former player’s entrepreneurial activity. Until then, its investments were concentrated in sports and entertainment. Entry into this project represents a business diversification. “I come from a market where emotions are much more heightened. In the football industry, every week and depending on the result, you are in heaven or hell. After selling the two teams, I decided to invest in ‘quieter things'”, said Ronaldo, in a press conference accompanied by the report from InfoMoney.
“I didn’t have the opportunity to attend a university. I was already a player and my priority was football. Over the years, I sought knowledge, as a curious person, through courses and readings. I improved, mainly, in what I already had an affinity for, such as advertising. I set up an agency, failed and then returned to the market with October”, he states. Now, the phase is different.
Although it represents a new front, the business caught the star’s attention because it is linked, in some way, to the practice of sports. “I decided to join because it’s a wonderful project. I’m sure I’ll make more investments like this – at least until I find something else ‘crazy’ to do within my original industry: football”, he stated. According to Ronaldo, who did not reveal the value of the investment, there are already talks to replicate the project in other cities such as Belo Horizonte and Goiânia.
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The business
With an estimated General Sales Value (PSV) of R$4.2 billion, and the first phase is expected to open in December 2026, the project has an estimated investment of R$1 billion and will have 3,500 equity titles with values of R$630,000 each.
The developer, founded and led by Maurício Gariglia, has already launched several projects in the region over its 39 years, such as Polo Empresarial Tamboré, and around a year ago it presented the project to Ronaldo. “It was one of our great partners, Marcelo Pessoa, from Galapagos Capital, who made the connection with Ronaldo. He went to see the project and fell in love. He said: ‘I want to be part of this'”, recalls Gariglia.
Ronaldo and Pessoa are partners at Galaticos Capital. The manager was born from the union of R9 Gestão Patrimonial and Galapagos Capital, at the beginning of 2024.
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Beyond surfing
One of the main attractions of the development is the wave pool, designed to cater for beginners to experienced surfers with WaveBender technology, capable of producing waves up to 2.10m high, which break after 22 seconds. This allows 50 people to surf in a one-hour period.
However, more than 80% of future members do not practice the sport. Therefore, the venture will not be limited to surfing. The space will have tennis, beach tennis, and padel courts, zip lines, a ski and squash simulator, as well as a spa and gastronomic spaces.
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The project is designed by the duo Carlos Mauad and Rogério Perez, references in the design of theme parks and high-end resorts, with landscaping by Benedito Abbud.
For Ronaldo, who claims to have never surfed, the investment will also be the opportunity to test a new sport: “I’ve never surfed before, but as I have a certain ease with sport, I hope I’m lucky and can do well”, he concluded.
