Here's who you are paying when you use Cristiano Ronaldo in your ads

Using football star Cristiano Ronaldo’s image in your next ad campaign?Well, the money you are spending is going straight to the pocket of Mint Media, a Hong Kong-based company owned by Singapore businessman Peter Lim. Lim has acquired the image rights for soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and under the deal with Ronaldo, Mint Media will own and administer all of Ronaldo’s image rights except for those relating to Real Madrid Football Club.Ronaldo has an existing management contract which will be retained by Mint Media. Mint Media’s acquisition of Ronaldo’s image rights is for a period of six years. Image rights are the proprietary rights a person has in his or her image and are akin to a trademark for a logo or a company’s name, or a copyright for an artistic work.Lim said: “Ronaldo is not just a great soccer player, he is also a very popular personality. I am confident that the Cristiano Ronaldo brand will continue to grow.” Lim added that Mint Media’s partnership with the Portuguese forward is a strategic one and will provide further exposure and growth for the Cristiano Ronaldo brand in Asia.Ronaldo said: “Lim has valuable and extensive business network and I have always admired Peter’s entrepreneurial savvy and his ability to grow businesses. He is also a good friend whom I have known for a while. I believe he will be a good partner and good value add for my brand.”Lim also has investments in Spanish football club Valencia and British carmaker McLaren Automotive. He is also behind the Singapore Olympic Foundation-Peter Lim Scholarship which provides financial assistance to aspiring young athletes to help them pursue sporting excellence in their chosen field.Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s on and off field charisma translated into millions of dollars from sponsors like Nike and his own underwear and shirt line CR7. Forbes magazine also ranked Ronaldo as the world’s third highest paid athlete in 2015 after boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Ronaldo is a three-time and reigning FIFA best player in the world and one of the most socially engaged athletes online with over 36.3 million followers on Twitter and 103 million fans on Facebook.