Messi joins the billionaires’ club: his fortune, why he trails the richest | OneFootball

Lionel Messi’s first major triumph in football was not tied to money, but to health. That contract signed on a napkin with Barcelona included the expensive hormone treatment he needed to continue growing. Over time, the Rosario-born star turned his talent into a gigantic fortune: salaries, prize money, advertising deals, investments, and personal businesses pushed his wealth past US$1 billion, according to a report by Bloomberg, the renowned agency specializing in economics and finance.

The report’s breakdown indicates that Messi has earned more than US$700 million in salaries and bonuses since 2007. “Taking into account taxes, market performance, and income from investments and sponsorships, his net worth has surpassed US$1 billion,” Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index states.

In this way, the Argentine captain matches Cristiano Ronaldo, who reached that threshold after signing with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr in 2023. However, neither of them appears on the list of the 500 richest people on the planet. Only one Argentine is in that ranking: Marcos Galperin, founder of Mercado Libre, whose fortune is approximately eight times larger than Messi’s and places him around 450th.

The Rosario-born star’s business expansion has accelerated in recent years under the supervision of his father, Jorge Messi. Bloomberg highlights that his salary at Inter Miami, deals tied to television rights, real estate investments, and even his stake in an Argentine restaurant chain are among the sources behind his 10-figure fortune.

According to the report, Messi could have reached the US$1 billion mark earlier if he had accepted Saudi Arabia’s offer after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. According to Bloomberg, the Argentine turned down a contract worth US$400 million per year to move to the Saudi league.

“Historically, athletes who have built fortunes of more than US$1 billion have done so largely thanks to their investments,” the report notes. It mentions, for example, the case of Roger Federer, whose equity stake in the Swiss company On ended up being far more profitable than the prize money he earned as a tennis player.

Michael Jordan also appears as an example. Although he was one of the NBA’s highest-paid players in his time, he earned less than US$100 million in salary. Most of his wealth later came from commercial deals and his stake in the Charlotte Hornets.

Bloomberg also stresses that the economic growth of modern football makes it easier for top stars to become billionaires. In Messi’s case, his contract with Inter Miami included innovative mechanisms, such as an option to acquire shares in the club, whose value rose by more than 20 percent over the past year, according to the consultancy Sportico.

Messi’s arrival in MLS also opened up new streams of income. According to Bloomberg, the deal between Inter Miami, Apple, and the U.S. league included a structure under which the footballer would receive a percentage of new subscriptions to Apple TV+’s MLS Season Pass.

Jorge Mas, owner of Inter Miami, said subscriptions to the service doubled after the Argentine’s arrival. He also estimated that Messi’s annual income from the club is around US$70 million to US$80 million, including equity stakes and other compensation mechanisms.

On top of that are his businesses in Spain. Under the guidance of banker Alfonso Nebot Armisen, the private firm managing the family’s investments steadily expanded its business.

In December 2024, a real estate REIT valued at US$232 million began trading on the stock market. The company, called Edificio Rostower Socimi, owns seven hotels and other assets linked to the real estate sector.

Messi has also moved into the mass consumer market. In 2024, he launched the sports drink Más+ by Messi, developed together with Mark Anthony International, the company behind Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

In addition, the Argentine captain joined the restaurant chain El Club de la Milanesa as an investor, as it seeks international expansion.

At the same time, he began building a structure linked to football clubs with an eye on the future after his retirement. In recent months, he acquired UE Cornellà, a team in Spain’s fifth division. He is also involved with Deportivo LSM alongside Luis Suárez, and the Messi family manages Leones, a club that competes in Argentina’s semi-professional circuit.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.