Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite was born on 22 April 1982, in Gama, Brazil, and is a professional football (soccer) player known worldwide as Ricardo Kaka, or simply Kaka, who currently plays for Sao Paulo in the Brazilian Major League, following significant spells with Milan AC and Real Madrid.
How rich is Kaka? Authoritative sources state that Kaka’s net worth is estimated to be over $60 million, the main source being his football career which began with Sao Paulo in 2001. He is reported to have earned 19.3 million Euros in 2011 and in 2012 15.5 million Euros while playing for Real Madrid.
Kaka Net Worth $60 Million
Kaka grew up in a family who shared his passion for football – his cousin Eduardo Delani, as well as his brother Ricardo (who is mostly known as Digão) are both successful professional football players. Kaka’s football career began with a local São Paulo club which he joined at the age of eight; when he was 15, Kaka signed a contract with São Paulo and helped his team secure a win in the Copa De Juvenil competition.
With Kaka’s successful career beginnings, the interest of various international clubs grew, until he was eventually signed to one of the most famous Italian clubs, AC Milan in 2003, with Kaka’s initial contract amounting to 8.5 million Euros, a very significant boost to his net worth. Kaka’s impressive plays soon gained him a spot in the starting line-up, where he was assigned as an attacking midfielder. Kaka’s contribution to the team saw Milan win the UEFA Super Cup, and gain second place in the Intercontinental Cup, as well as the Supercoppa Italiana. At the end of the season, Kaka was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award. Kaka continued to showcase his skills in the later seasons, which again earned him various nominations, but it wasn’t until Andriy Shevchenko’s departure for Chelsea that Kaka finally became the most important player on the team. In the season of 2006-07, Kaka became the top goal scorer in the league, became a part of the UEFA Team of the Year, and was even nominated for the World’s Best Playmaker award, following Milan winning the European Cup. Needless to say, Kaka’s career, as well as his net worth, was on the rise at the time.
Kaka, together with his team, began his 2007-08 season by securing a win against Sevilla for the UEFA Super Cup, and he played his 200th match with AC Milan in September. That same year, Kaka won FIFA’s World Player of the Year Award, in addition to other awards and nominations which included the Balon d’Or (Golden Boot).
Named on Time’s list as one of the world’s most influential people, in 2009 Kaka was traded to Spanish football club Real Madrid for an impressive sum of over 68 million Euros. Kaka, who signed a six-year deal with Madrid, debuted on the field in 2009 and helped secure his team a victory against Toronto FC. Kaka’s career in Madrid has been marked by both ups and downs, as he continued to score goals and help his team with important matches, yet he had been suffering from injuries, the most crucial being a knee injury called iliotibial band syndrome which required surgery in 2010.
In 2013, after for 4 years and 32 goals scored, Kaka announced that he was leaving the Real Madrid club, and rejoined Milan for what turned out to be one year because of lingering injuries, after which he signed for Orlando City in the US MLS for a reported $7.2 million per year, but also played on-loan for Sao Paulo, despite niggling injuries.
Internationally, Kaka has played 92 senior games for Brazil, including in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, scoring 29 goals.
In his personal life, Kaka married Caroline Celico in December 2005, and they had two children before divorcing in 2015.
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