The Brazilian idol purchased a $7.8 million penthouse in , according to public records, joining a growing list of football players who own “trophy” properties in the region.
Ronaldo’s purchase comes after he sold his controlling stakes in Spanish club Real Valladolid last year and Cruzeiro in Brazil in 2024, where he began his career. World Cup champion, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima is better known among football fans simply as Ronaldo, or in Brazil as “the Phenomenon”.
“Sports and athletes in Miami go hand in hand,” said Dina Goldentayer, who represented the sellers, a group of developers who will complete the 41-unit building, Onda Residences, in 2024. Goldentayer cited events ranging from Formula 1 to the upcoming World Cup matches that the city will host.
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Ronaldo was in the stands at the Miami Open women’s final last weekend and attended the FII Priority conference last week in Miami Beach alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The beachfront penthouse has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a large rooftop terrace with a private pool.
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Goldentayer declined to comment on the identity of the buyer. Public records for the penthouse apartment, located on an artificial island in the northern part of Biscayne Bay, show an LLC that names Ronaldo as the owner. Talita Pinheiro, the broker who represented the buyer, also did not comment. Representatives for Ronaldo did not respond to a request for comment.
Miami has established itself as a football capital in the USA. FIFA and FC Barcelona have opened offices in the region, and the city will host seven World Cup games this summer. The local Major League Soccer team, Inter Miami, attracted Lionel Messi, widely considered the greatest player in the world — a symbolic achievement for the growing popularity of the American league and the consolidation of Miami as a soccer hub.
Inter Miami brought other big names to South Florida — Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez, both former teammates of Messi at FC Barcelona, also signed with the club and subsequently made eye-catching acquisitions in the real estate market. Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate David Beckham is a co-owner of Inter Miami. Beckham purchased a $72 million mansion in Miami Beach in 2024.
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Ronaldo, left, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Miami on March 27.
It’s not Ronaldo’s first association with South Florida. In 2014, he became a minority shareholder in the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a team from the now-defunct North American Soccer League.
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Miami’s real estate market has reached new heights since the pandemic, as a wave of wealthy people from the Northeast and Midwest moved to the region. This year, the high-end segment has soared with a string of high-profile purchases by California billionaires, allegedly evading a proposed billionaire tax.
“Athletes love it as much as the CEOs, financiers and tech people in California,” said Goldentayer, the broker. Silicon Valley moguls such as Alphabet Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg have purchased Miami real estate in recent months, with Zuckerberg’s purchase breaking a Miami-Dade County record.
“Buyers of this size generate confidence in the market,” she said. “These people can live anywhere in the world — and they’re choosing Miami.”
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