Before spending a large amount of money to buy 4 expensive apartments in the US, striker Lionel Messi was one of the players who owned a huge fortune and aimed to become a billionaire in the sports field.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Messi has just signed a contract to buy 4 apartments in the Cipriani Residences Miami area under construction. The largest of these apartments is on sale with a starting price of 7.5 million USD. This is considered the largest investment that M10 has ever made since coming to the US to play for Inter Miami.
This is not the first time the Argentine star has invested in real estate in the US. Previously, in September 2023, Messi spent more than 10.8 million USD to buy a villa in Florida. This house has a total area of more than 10,000 m², including 8 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. In addition, it also owns a spa, a gym and an outdoor swimming pool. Messi’s villa is only about a 15-minute drive from Inter Miami’s training ground.
The Real Deal even revealed that Messi has three other luxury apartments in Sunny Isles Beach, a location more than 30 km from the headquarters of Inter Miami. The fees for these apartments were not disclosed.
Currently, Messi and his family are satisfied with the quality of life in the US. In Miami, the striker plays alongside close friends such as Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
In addition, the Argentine star also owns a $7 million villa in Barcelona, another villa in his hometown of Rosario.
Messi owns a huge fortune
Lionel Messi was born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina and began playing football as a child. At the age of 13, he and his family moved to Spain so he could play for FC Barcelona’s under-14 team.
According to Parade, in a 2010 interview, Messi said he chose Barcelona because they were the only club that offered to pay for his growth hormone therapy. Messi had previously been diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency, or GHD, and two prominent Argentine clubs, River Plate and Newell’s Old Boys, had refused to pay for his treatment.
At Barcelona, Messi struggled to establish himself and made his debut for the Spanish giants at the age of 16 in a friendly against José Mourinho’s Porto on 16 November 2003.
At 17, he became the youngest player to play in Spain’s La Liga and a year later, he won the Champions League with Barcelona. To date, the 2022 World Cup winner has won the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best male footballer eight times.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Lionel Messi has an estimated net worth of $850 million in 2025. This is the fortune the Argentine star has accumulated over his more than two decades of playing for the Argentina national team, Barcelona, PSG and now Inter Miami.
At 37, Messi is still one of the most impressive sports earners, with his net worth rising from $650 million in 2024 to $850 million just a year later. With Messi still going strong in his sports career and earning millions from endorsement deals (including a lifetime deal with Adidas), it’s entirely possible that the 37-year-old could soon reach billionaire status in the sports industry.
According to Sportico’s estimates from 2023, Messi has earned $1.2 billion in salary, bonuses and endorsements throughout his professional career.
Currently, Messi is the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer with a guaranteed annual salary of $20.4 million (though he certainly earns much more than that).
Previously, Messi signed a contract with Inter Miami in 2023 until the end of the 2025 season. According to the disclosure, Messi’s contract has a total value of up to $ 150 million from salary, bonuses and shares at Inter Miami.
What areas does Messi invest in?
In addition to his salary, Lionel Messi earns a large amount of money from advertising and sponsorship contracts. In 2021, Forbes reported that Messi earned $33 million from his various sponsorship contracts, with companies such as Adidas, Gatorade, and Pepsi.
In 2022, the publication raised this figure to $65 million when Messi had advertising sponsorship contracts with a series of famous names such as Adidas, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Apple, Bitget, Cirque du Soleil, Gatorade, Hard Rock Cafe Inc., Konami, Lowe’s, Mastercard, PepsiCo, Royal Caribbean Group.
Adidas has sponsored Messi since 2006, but the real money comes from a lifetime deal he signed in 2017, worth an estimated $1 billion. The deal includes a revenue-sharing clause that gives Messi a percentage of all shirt sales, along with other accessories. He launched his own clothing line and opened his first retail store, the Messi Store, in 2019 in Barcelona.
One of Messi’s investments is the MIM Hotels chain. He reportedly owns six luxury four- and five-star hotels across Spain.
In addition to hotels in Spain, Messi likes to spend money on dozens of luxury cars. According to Goal, his collection includes a Pagani Zonda Roadster – worth $4 million, a Pagani Zonda Tricolore (worth $2 million), a Ferrari F430 Spyder, a Dodge Charger SRT8, a Maserati Gran Turismo and many others.
Messi was also rumored to have bought a 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Spider Scaglietti in 2016 for $36 million, but an Instagram post showing him holding a toy car appeared to mock and possibly deny the rumor.
Like many other millionaires, Messi travels by private jet, estimated to cost $15 million.
