- 1 Nov 2024
How much does Lionel Messi earn and what is the football legend’s net worth?
Lionel Messi is regarded as the world’s greatest ever footballer by many fans and his record tally of eight Ballon d’Ors indicates that he is the best player to ever grace the pitch.
The Barcelona legend made his name at Camp Nou, but he has also enjoyed periods of success at Paris Saint-Germain and now Inter Miami.
Messi has made his mark on the international stage too, winning the 2021 Copa America with Argentina, before finally emerging triumphant at the World Cup in 2022. He was voted as the tournament’s best player after guiding his nation to glory in Qatar.
READ MORE: How much does Cristiano Ronaldo earn and what is the football legend’s net worth?
The Argentine forward’s glittering career has led to some eye-watering financial rewards, with his salary and sponsorship income both sky-high.
Below, FootballTransfers runs through Messi’s net worth and how much he earns per year.
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What is Lionel Messi’s net worth?
Messi has an estimated net worth of $650 million as of May 2024. That equates to around £480m and €560m in other major currencies.
How much does Lionel Messi earn?
Messi’s total earnings in 2023 equalled $130m, according to Forbes. As a result, he was the second-highest paid athlete in the world.
The Argentine's salary at Inter Miami stands at $20.4 million guaranteed per year, meaning that the vast majority of his earnings come in the form of commercial deals and endorsements.
Who sponsors Lionel Messi?
The sponsor most connected with Messi is Adidas, with whom he is contracted to on a long-term deal.
Their partnership began in 2006 after Adidas won a battle with rivals Nike. The attacker wears the brand’s boots on the pitch and endorses a host of other products for them.
Messi represents, or has represented, huge swathes of global companies as his star power has grown. MasterCard, Budweiser, Pepsi, Louis Vuitton, Gatorade, Hard Rock Cafe, Tata Motors, Huawei, Dolce & Gabbana, Lay's, Gillette, Turkish Airlines and Audemars Piguet are among them.
He has also represented Konami as the face of Pro Evolution Soccer and EA Sports for their FIFA gaming series.
All these partnerships have heavily contributed towards his net worth, providing an additional income stream to his salary over the years.
What businesses does Lionel Messi have?
As well as his products with Adidas, Messi has also launched his own clothing line. The Messi Store in Barcelona was his first retail outlet, and it opened in 2019.
In addition, Messi has a hotel business named MiM, which is run by his brother, while he works alongside NFT company Ethernity.
Overall, even though they have increased in prominence towards the latter stages of his career, Messi’s business interests have often been more limited than other players, or at least more private.
Earlier in his career, many of Messi’s deals were carefully selected to ensure they were tied to his performances as a player and he did not promote products as actively as others.
It is also known that Messi invests in property. He put money into the Azahares del Parana community project near his birthplace of Rosario in Argentina, along with an apartment building in the city centre.
It has also been reported that Messi paid £3m to build a new mansion nicknamed 'The Fortress' in his home city.
Like with all successful athletes, Messi also has a varied range of investments to help grow his wealth.
In addition, Messi does a host of charity work. He has his own foundation and has been a long-term ambassador with Unicef.
What cars and assets does Lionel Messi own?
Messi’s car collection is reported to include a Ferrari F430 Spider, a Pagani Zonda, a Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale, a Mercedes SLS AMG, and an Audi R8 Spyder, all of which are worth six or seven-figure amounts. He is also rumoured to own a 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Spider Scaglietti - for which he paid over $30m.
Messi also enjoys travelling on his own €15m private jet which includes a kitchen, two bathrooms and 16 seats that can become beds. He has the names of his wife and children etched on the steps of the plane.
Furthermore, he owns a luxurious home in Castelldefels near Barcelona, which has a view of the Catalan mountains. The mansion contains some specific features added by Messi, including a football pitch, a swimming pool and a playground for his children.
A one zero-eco house that was designed and custom-built by Luis Garrido is also an asset for the Messi family, who have spent over $2m on renovations.
He reportedly spent almost $10m on an apartment in Miami’s Porsche Design Tower in Miami back in 2019 too. There is an elaborate lift in the building that allows Messi to park his car on the same floor as his luxury suite.
In between football seasons, the forward reportedly travels around with his family on a yacht that costs $50,000 per week to rent.
He has welcomed team-mates on board the vessel in the past, including Luis Suarez.
The yacht contains four rooms that can welcome 10 guests and has a master suite, a VIP stateroom and two twin cabins. There is an outdoor bar and huge space for sunbathing.
How many social media followers does Lionel Messi have?
X / Twitter
Messi is rare among footballers in that he does not have a personal X (Twitter) account, with an Adidas-run account his only presence on that platform. ‘TeamMessi’ - run by Adidas - has 3.5m followers as of April 2024.
Messi does have a Facebook page, which has attracted an astonishing 116m fans as of April 2024.
On Instagram, Messi has an even higher follower count, with his account now being followed by 502m people as of April 2024. The Argentine is the second-most followed person on Instagram, behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
