Lionel Messi became football's 2nd billionaire with £71m salary, £24.8m endorsements
- Lionel Messi recently joined the elite club of billionaires
- The Barcelona star is currently the highest paid footballer
- The 33-year-old also makes massive income from endorsements
- Just like CR7, Messi has a pool of businesses including hotels
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Lionel Messi is the fourth sportsman to have joined the billionaire club and the second footballer after rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Forbes recently released Messi's earnings and the Barcelona star is way ahead of Ronaldo following his massive salary along with his numerous endorsements.
After making a U-turn in his Barcelona career, the 33-year-old would earn a fixed salary of $92m (£71m) which excludes bonuses for signing, staying and winning trophies, SportMail claim.
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And the time Messi plays until the end of the 2021 season, the Barca captain will pocket $126m (£98m) on the average and could increase to $141m (£110m) if he wins FIFA's best player.
The Argentinian international's lucrative endorsements is another reference point of his staggering earnings annually.
Forbes revealed that the Argentine captain makes a mammoth $32m (£24.8m) from all of his endorsement deals in recent years.
One of Messi's biggest deals is his with sport kit giants Adidas which reportedly earns him $12m (£9m) yearly after signing a lifetime contract in 2017.
He also has huge deals with softdrink giants Pepsi, Gatorade, Huawei and Mastercard as well as other brands taking his total earnings to $32m on endorsements alone.
Messi also has a pool of businesses that rakes in millions on a yearly basis just like his rival Ronaldo.
The Barcelona superstar partnered with Ginny Hilfiger, the sister of famous designer Tommy Hilfiger after releasing his own clothing line.
Messi will open a theme park that has been in the pipeline since 2017 in China this year which will add reasonably to his income.
The Argentine icon also ventured into hospitality business having purchased a four-star hotel in a beach town close to Barcelona.
The attacker also owns hotels in Ibiza and Majorca, bought the luxurious hotel named MiM in 2017 for £26m, adding it to his growing portfolio of real estate.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Messi has become the fourth sportsman to earn a billion in his career after Forbes released his recent earnings with Barcelona.
The 33-year-old old was way ahead of rival Cristiano Ronaldo gulping a massive $126 million against the Portuguese's $117m.
The Barcelona star is now the second footballer to reach the $1bn point mark along with Ronaldo, Rodger Federer, Tiger Woods and Floyd Mayweather.
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Source: Legit.ng
