Not content with a burgeoning business empire encompassing fashion, perfume and numerous luxury endorsements, soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is getting into the hotel business.
The Portuguese player is teaming up with fellow countryman Dionisio Pestana, chief executive of the Pestana Hotel Group to develop a new hotel brand.
Ronaldo is investing more than $40 million in four boutique hotels under his trademarked ‘CR7’ name, which includes a property in New York.
Two hotels are also planned in his homeland, in Funchal on the island of Madeira, in Lisbon, and another in Madrid, Spain.
The New York hotel is slated for a 2017 opening.
Ronaldo purchased an apartment in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue earlier this year for a reported $18.5 million.
"This is the biggest project of my life. It’s an investment in a completely different area, but as you can imagine the goal is to take care of my future and the future of my son," Ronaldo told reporters.
"Obviously this is a completely different world. My world is playing soccer but we all know that life won’t always be like this."
The player’s $40 million stake will give him a 50% shareholding in the new business.
Madeira-based Pestana is Portugal’s biggest hospitality company with more than 90 hotels under management in Europe, South America, and Africa.
