Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo inflicted a $4-billion loss on soft drink major Coca-Cola with his gesture of putting aside two bottles of carbonated drinks and picking water instead during a press conference ahead of Portugal’s match against Hungary.
The Portuguese star footballer, who plays for Juventus in Serie A and is acknowledged as one of the two best footballers of the current era alongside Argentine Lionel Messi, sat down for the interaction with a teammate and moved the Coke bottles aside before picking a water bottle.
Coke is a sponsor of the ongoing Euro 2020 in which the former Real Madrid star is leading Portugal.
Spanish newspaper Marca has reported that Coca-Cola’s shares took a dive and left the company with billions of dollars in losses.
“Coca-Cola shares dropped from 56.10 dollars to 55.22 dollars almost immediately after Ronaldo’s gesture, meaning the company’s value fell from $242 billion to $238 billion,” said a report in the Marca.
The dip in value happened within half an hour.
Ronaldo has been quite vocal in his support for a healthy diet and is known to admonish his son when he finds him eating food referred to as junk.
“Occasionally my son drinks Coca-Cola or Fanta and eats crisps and he knows I don’t like that,” Ronaldo has said in the past.
A day after causing the mayhem on the stock market, Ronaldo powered his Iberian nation to a 3-0 win over Hungary with a brace.
He also built his legend further by becoming the top scorer in European Championship history with 11 goals.
