Late last week, Bloomberg declared that, according to its calculations, Lionel Messi had officially crossed into billionaire status. FYI: Prior to that report, we estimated Lionel Messi’s net worth at $850 million.
If you are familiar with CelebrityNetWorth, you may have noticed that we are not in the habit of instantly agreeing every time another publication declares a celebrity a billionaire. Right after their report was published, I quickly wrote a 1,000-word takedown of their article and process. Then, after some reflection, I thought to myself: Why am I resisting so hard? Why can’t I just go along to get along? Why not jump into the warm everyone-is-a-billionoare pool party???
Is Lionel Messi a billionaire? Sure. Why not? But in case you’re curious, here’s a bit more info on where we see things differently than Bloomberg:
Harry How/Getty Images
$1.25 Billion Salary + Endorsements
It probably goes without saying that the foundation of Messi’s fortune is actually pretty simple: Over the last two decades, he has made an obscene amount of money playing soccer. He has earned that obscene amount primarily from two sources:
Salary Endorsements
Lionel was originally a Nike athlete during the very early years of his career. In 2006, he signed what became one of the most significant and lucrative endorsement partnerships in recent history. Countless additional partnerships followed, adding up to around $500 million in endorsement income.
And then there’s the money he actually earns to play soccer. To date, Messi has earned more than $750 million in on-field salary and bonuses. Combined with his $500 million in sponsorships, Messi has cleared roughly $1.25 billion in gross lifetime career earnings.
After taxes and lifestyle costs, that quickly gets whittled down to $600-700 million.
Then you have his investments and other assets, starting with…
Inter Miami + Apple Deal
In 2023, it looked completely certain that Lionel would follow his longtime rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, to Saudi Arabia, lured by an absolutely staggering contract. At one point, it was widely reported that Lionel was offered a deal from a Saudi team that would have paid him $400 million PER YEAR. Who in their right mind would reject that kind of astronomical, generational wealth?
Lionel Messi.
The sports world was absolutely stunned when Lionel turned down the Saudi billions and instead opted to go to… Miami? To play in the MLS, a league historically viewed as a retirement destination for European stars, for a base salary reported to be around $54 million?
As it turns out, there’s a bit more to his salary.
While his base playing salary sits between $54 million and $60 million per year, his total annual club compensation actually scales up to the $70 million to $80 million range. That extra layer is driven by an unprecedented, ground-breaking revenue-sharing agreement with Apple TV+ for its MLS Season Pass subscriptions. When Apple signed a 10-year streaming deal with the MLS, they needed a global superstar to drive international subscriptions. Messi was the key. Following his arrival, the streaming platform reportedly doubled its subscriber base almost overnight.
That’s not all. Messi’s Inter Miami deal also includes an option to buy an equity stake in the team.
When he joined the team, Inter Miami was struggling on the pitch, sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. At the time, the club was valued (generously) at $500 million. Today, thanks basically entirely to Lionel Messi, the team’s valuation has tripled to $1.5 billion.
Messi’s exact Inter Miami equity stake has not been publicly confirmed. Some reports have suggested his deal could ultimately give him around 10% of the club, but the safer interpretation is that he holds a future minority ownership option. If he does have the option to eventually take a 10% stake, at today’s valuation, it’s worth $150 million.
Three problems:
We don’t actually know what his eventual equity take might be. Maybe it is 10%. Maybe it’s 20%. Maybe is 5%. He doesn’t actually own anything right now. He has an option to buy in the future. Either way, what do you think Inter Miami is worth AFTER Lionel Messi retires? Will attendance, media rights, and sponsorships continue to grow if Lionel had a career-ending injury tomorrow?
The $232 Million REIT
Messi’s commercial real estate empire might be the smoking gun that bridges the billionaire gap.
For years, Messi’s family office quietly bought up European commercial real estate. They acquired seven luxury boutique hotels (operating under the MiM Hotels brand) in high-end vacation spots like Ibiza, Mallorca, and the Pyrenees. They bought office spaces in Barcelona, retail buildings, and luxury apartments in Paris and London. In early 2026, they even dropped €11.5 million to buy the massive, abandoned Galerías Via Wagner building in Barcelona to convert it into a commercial rental property.
To consolidate this empire, his family office bundled these assets into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) called Edificio Rostower Socimi. In December 2024, they took the REIT public on a digital-only Spanish stock exchange. When the bell rang, the market capitalization was €223 million (approximately $232 million USD).
A $232 million market cap is an impressive achievement, but treating it as liquid cash for Messi’s net worth is a massive leap. Real estate is expensive to run. According to financial filings, Edificio Rostower actually posted a €1.7 million loss in 2023. When you factor in the commercial mortgages and overhead required to run seven hotels across Europe, the actual net equity Messi holds in that $232 million valuation is likely much lower. It is a brilliant, long-term wealth preservation vehicle, but it is brick-and-mortar paper wealth, not the liquid windfall required to instantly mint a billionaire.
New Endorsements And Investments
Messi has also been turning his fame into businesses that can outlive his playing career.
In 2024, he launched Más+ by Messi, a hydration and sports drink brand created in partnership with Mark Anthony International, the beverage company behind Mike’s Hard Lemonade and White Claw. The celebrity beverage category is crowded, but it can be extraordinarily lucrative when a brand breaks through.
Messi has also invested in El Club de la Milanesa, an Argentine restaurant chain built around one of his favorite staple dishes, helping with its international expansion.
Soccer Club Ownership
Messi is also building a soccer ownership portfolio.
He acquired the fifth-division Spanish club Cornellà. He has also added to his existing stake in Deportivo LSM, the Uruguayan side he co-owns with longtime friend and former teammate Luis Suárez. His family also helps run Los Leones, a lower-division club in his native city of Rosario.
These are not Inter Miami-sized assets. But they are strategically interesting.
The $850 Million To $1 Billion Bridge
So how do we get from our previous $850 million estimate to $1 billion?
The bridge looks something like this:
A continued accumulation of Inter Miami salary, bonuses, and endorsement income. A more valuable and more clearly defined Inter Miami equity opportunity. Continued valuation growth of his Spanish real estate investment company Additional business interests in beverages, restaurants, and soccer clubs.
To be clear, I absolutely think Lionel Messi will become a billionaire without any doubts at some point, and I appreciate the argument that he is a billionaire right now. That difference is what makes the job of estimating celebrity wealth so interesting! Sometimes it’s fun to point out when a publication (cough cough Forbes) is shamelessly grabbing pageviews with a very light-on-reality headline. And sometimes it’s fun to just go along with the crowd 🙂
