Lionel Messi is one of football’s modern superstars, becoming a name and a face that has long transcended the sport. The forward, while short in stature, has had a big impact on the game from his stint at Barcelona , to PSG , and now to Inter Miami. In that 20-year stint, his performances as one of the best in the world have been reflected by the hefty contracts he has received.
While that may come with a lavish lifestyle, Messi has been working hard behind the scenes to build up a portfolio of investments to pursue. Whether that is in football – such as his deal to join Inter Miami that included incentives – or outside of it in the property sphere, there is plenty going on in the world of Messi. READ MORE: Lionel Messi’s GOAT status denied by Ronaldinho, he claimed these three legends are better How much money does Lionel Messi make? According to a report from Forbes , Messi is ranked as the third-best-paid athlete currently playing in the world.
A whopping $135million [£102million] in earnings for the year puts him only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Jon Rahm in the world of sports salaries – while he’s ahead of the likes of LeBron James, Kylian Mbappe , Neymar Jr and many, many more. Those earnings are broken up into his on-the-field earnings and those away from the football pitch altogether, which paints an interesting story. Messi earns $65million [£49million], which is far less than his footballing counterparts such as Ronaldo [$200million], Mbappe [$90million], Neymar Jr [$80million] and Karim Benzema [$100million].
What takes the former Barcelona man into the top three for earnings is what he manages to do off the pitch. A huge $70million [£53million] of his total earnings come from those activities and investments he has away from football. Lionel Messi’s business investments Messi has put a lot of his money to good use in investments away from the pitch that will help him accrue even more earnings.
On top of his sponsorship deal with Adidas and incentives from his move to the MLS – such as a share of Apple TV earnings – there is property investment for the football star. Messi owns the hotel chain MiM Hotels , which is operated by his brother Rodrigo, and looks to offer a luxury service. There are six locations for these hotels, which are: Sitges, Ibiza, Mallorca, Sotogrande, Andorra and Baqueira.
The latter of those is, in fact, a ski resort located in the Spanish Pyrenees. READ MORE: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and the highest-paid footballers in 2024, ranked What does Lionel Messi spend his money on? It’s not all business ventures and football for Messi as he also spends plenty of his money on other things too. Luxury cars are on that list, with a report from GOAL claiming some of those seen in his garage are worth upwards of £27million.
Outside of that, there are his real estate properties, with several houses in Argentina, Spain and elsewhere..
