Cristiano Ronaldo by "Forbes" in 2016 and 2017, as well as the world's most famous athlete by ESPN in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in São Pedro, Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Portugal, and grew up in Santo António, Funchal. He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro (b. 1954), a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro (1953–2005), a municipal gardener and a part-time kit man. His second given name, "Ronaldo", was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan. His great-grandmother on his father's side, Isabel da Piedade, was from the island
Cristiano Ronaldo season, however, he signed a new contract that extended his stay by three years to 2018, with a salary of €17 million net, making him briefly the highest-paid player in football. He was joined at the club by winger Gareth Bale, whose world record transfer fee of €100 million surpassed the fee Madrid had paid for Ronaldo four years prior. Together with striker Karim Benzema, they formed an attacking trio popularly dubbed "BBC", an acronym of Bale, Benzema, and Cristiano, and a play off the name of the public service broadcaster. After enjoying a strong goalscoring run during the first