Net Worth Of Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi, the star forward and captain of the Spanish football club Barcelona and the Argentine national team, is the highest-paid athlete in the world, ahead of footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. His pay is $127 million per year, which consists of $92 million in salary and $35 million in endorsement deals. His net worth is a reported $400 million. In response to the corona virus pandemic, Messi and his teammates agreed to a 70% wage cut, costing Messi an estimated $50 million in pay.

Lionel Messi - The highest paid athlete in the world

Key Takeaways:

• Lionel Messi wins $127 million every year, of which $92 million is compensation and $35 million is supports. 
• He is the most generously compensated competitor on the planet.
• A lifetime deal with Adidas is worth an estimated $12 million per year.
• In 2016, Messi and his father were found guilty of evading a 4.2 million in taxes and ordered to pay significant fines.

Career:

At 5'7" tall, Lionel Messi is among the shortest footballers to play the game. He was born in Rosario, Argentina on June 24, 1987.His father was a supervisor at a steel mill, while his mother had once worked at a magnetic coil factory.

Messi played youth football in a group called "The Machine of  87", after the year wherein he and every one of his colleagues were conceived. They lost a single game in the four years they played together. At age nine, Messi was determined to have a development hormone insufficiency. The local football club, Newell's Old Boys, picked up the tab for treatments but stopped after costs mounted. So at the age of 13, Messi and his father moved to Spain, where Barcelona agreed to pay for his medical care.

He played in Under 14's and advanced through the ranks.He showed up his first appearances in October 2004. His breakout came in the 2005-06 season, having helped to win key matches against Juventus and Chelsea. Messi has made more than 700 appearances for the club and scored more than 600 goals. He has won the Ballon d'Or six times, the Golden Shoe six times, and has been the top scorer in the Champions League six times. Messi has captained the Argentinian national team at the World Cup four times. In 2008, he played at the Beijing Olympics, taking home the gold medal.

Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates agreed to a 70% wage cut to help their football club during the corona virus pandemic. The cut would cost Messi an estimated $50 million in pay.

Contracts and Endorsements:

Messi is effectively the most generously compensated soccer player on the planet, on account of a rewarding agreement and support bargains. In November 2017, he agreed to a contract extension that would see him play for Barcelona through the 2020-21 season. The buyout clause for contract was set at a 700 million.

He has a lifetime deal with sports brand Adidas (ADDYY) that is worth an estimated $12 million per year. Other endorsement deals include Gatorade, Huawei and MasterCard. In 2017, a Spanish company announced plans to develop a 170 million theme park called the Messi Experience Park in Nanjing, China.

Tax Evasion:

In July 2016, a court in Spain sentenced Messi and his father Jorge Horacio Messi to 21 months in prison for three counts of tax fraud. Messi and his father were accused of evading almost a 4.2 million in taxes by using offshore shell companies in Belize, Uruguay and Switzerland to hide sponsorship income. In addition, the court order Messi to pay a fine of a 2 million and his father to pay a 1.5 million.

Neither of the men had been expected to serve time, as under Spanish law sentences of less than two years can be served as probation. Messi appealed and Spain's Supreme Court upheld the conviction. The court, however, reduced Jorge Messi's sentence to 15 months after he paid the owed taxes. Both sentences were lifted after Messi paid a 250,000 and his father paid a 180,000.