Ronaldo vs Messi: Battle Of The Richest

In 2021, Manchester United made $683 million and PSG made $599 million. So which of their two biggest players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, spend the cash they make from these giants the best? Well, these giants and all those endorsement deals. So let's start with the easiest way to establish a lead. Both of these athletes are at the top of their game. That means that both are pulling in the kind of money that is utterly unattainable for most athletes in the professional world. Both of them have insane fortunes, but which one has the biggest? Lionel Messi started playing for Barcelona in 2003. Since then, he's become one of the best players in the world. Some would even consider him to be the most gifted footballer of all time. His salary certainly reflects that fact. He makes a shocking $1.3 million a week. This has pulled him a giant yearly salary of $41 million. His 2017 four-year contract also features several insane bonuses. The contract, which totals $650 million, includes a $135 million signing bonus and a $91 million plus loyalty payment. His total earnings for 2021 have been reported by Forbes to be $75 million. This puts him in a special class of footballers. He has shot all the way to the top as one of the He's not messing around on endorsements either. Messi has plenty of highly recognizable brands sponsoring him, like Pepsi, Adidas, and Budweiser. Overall, he has pulled in $35 million across all of his brands. This makes him one of the biggest names in endorsement deals too. Overall, his 2021 talents have gotten him $110 million. How could anyone possibly compete with all of that? Well, Cristiano Ronaldo is no stranger to competition. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most recognizable names in the football world. He's the kind of celebrity who casually hangs out with royalty and billionaires regularly. So how much does a superstar like that pull? Well, right now, his contract is for an astounding £26.5 million. That translates roughly to $36.2 million. To put that in perspective, the average pay for a Manchester United player is £6.1 million or $8.3 million. That is nothing but a small drop compared to Ronaldo's regular take of £510,000 a week. He's also got a pretty sweet bonus that is designed to push him towards his personal brand of excellence as much as possible. He has negotiated for a big time payday of £1 million per goal. His total salary plus all of his bonuses are reported to have brought him in an estimated $70 million. That's not even counting endorsements either. Ronaldo has secured some of the highest paying brands like Nike, Altice, and Herbalife. That has earned him $55 million on top of his salary. It's been estimated that over his entire career, he's earned well over a billion. Money well spent, in my opinion. Forbes has estimated that he's pulled in a total of $125 million in 2021. He is pulling in truckloads of cold hard cash week in and week out both on the pitch and off. So how much has all this excellence earned him in total? As of 2021, Ronaldo is worth an impressive $500 million. These two are shockingly close at the end of the day. Messi certainly put up a good fight. His $75 million salary actually stands above Ronaldo's 70 mil. Then there's his net worth of $400 million, which is nothing to sneeze at either. Sadly, that's just not enough to overcome Ronaldo. His $55 million endorsements tower over Messi's 35 mil. That's how Ronaldo has taken his massive $500 million net worth. Messi shouldn't feel too bad, though. As of 2021, the top 25 highest paid athletes of all time has the likes of Michael Jordan's $2.6 billion and Tiger Woods' $2.1 billion at the top. Ronaldo comes in at number five with his $1.24 billion. This puts him one space above even the highest paid boxer of all time, Floyd Mayweather, and his $1.2 billion. So not only has Ronaldo surpassed Messi, but he's also surpassed everyone else to become the highest paid football player of all time and one of the top five highest paid athletes, period. Yeah, this is one goal for Ronaldo. He has taken quite the commanding lead. Being a legend means that you have to live like a legend. That includes having the kind of real estate portfolio that rivals the likes of rap stars, famous actors, and tech millionaires. Well, this pair certainly knows how much pressure is on both of them to buy houses every other footballer should be jealous of. Cristiano Ronaldo is well known for his homes. He has the kind of real estate that's been talked about for years. Ronaldo has an empire that's worth an astounding $58 million. This empire spans multiple countries with some of the nicest properties you'll find anywhere in the world. Back in the day, Ronaldo built his dream mansion from the ground up. It's a very private spot located in Jerez, the only national park in Portugal. It is a fantastic retreat style pad that stands at roughly 8,600 square feet. Aerial views confirm that the spot has its own swimming pool, a football pitch, and a private dock. When it came time to sell, he decided to keep it in the Real Madrid family. He sold it to his teammate Pepe, but he didn't exactly give it away. His buddy dropped him $3.1 million, though it's not like you could just give away your dream mansion. Madrid footballers are well known for living in the La Finca neighborhood. Ronaldo was all too happy to give us a tour of the place. He dropped $6.2 million to own his little slice of heaven in Spain. It's a modern space that shows off his fine sense of taste. Every square inch of the place once you walk through that door is decorated with modern excess. The place is full of comfy couches, walls covered in art, a fine outdoor pool, and an enormous dining room table. Of course, it has a giant football pitch in the back as well. Then there's the weird touches like his Dalmatian statue, his pine cone style light fixtures, and his enormous Christmas decorations that are...interesting to look at to say the least. There's no way I can't mention Ronaldo's gorgeous penthouse apartment in Lisbon. The $7.9 million pad is officially the most expensive apartment the Portuguese capital has ever seen. His sky high dreams led him to this gorgeous modern 3,100 square foot flat. It features a spa, a swimming pool, a gym, and three large bedrooms. It also has the high class furniture and art that Ronaldo is known for. None of that is what really motivated him to outbid several other high profile bidders to secure the spot. Apparently one of the biggest sells on this place is that it's a walking distance from Ronaldo's humble beginnings. I'm sure he can almost spot it from his unbelievable view of Lisbon. You can't really put a price on being able to literally see out of your window how far you've come. Though if you could, apparently that price would be nearly eight million dollars. 2020 featured a unique challenge for people and their homes. This was a time when everyone in the world had to get really really comfortable with their houses. That's because everyone was locked down. Well for Ronaldo, this home wasn't too bad of a choice for an extended stay. His Madeira estate is where he locked down with his entire family. This 9.5 million dollar estate looks like a pretty nice space to spend a couple of weeks. Apparently the home came about when Ronaldo bought an entire warehouse. Then he spent millions transforming it into his own seven story luxury estate. Work was completed on the modern home in 2019, just a few months before lockdown. Those seven stories contain amenities like not one but two olympic-sized swimming pools and its own football pitch. So he may have been the only one who didn't take the time to watch Tiger King in 2020. Apparently this is where Ronaldo's mother spends a great deal of her time as well. I can't say I blame her. Who wouldn't want an entire floor all to yourself with Cristiano's eye for exquisite home decor? I've covered where Ronaldo likes to live, but that's not the only reason to buy a place. For millionaires like him, a vacation spot is a must. Though not everyone has a villa with as much style as this one. It's a luxury mansion in Marbella that is covered in palm trees and greenery in every direction. Everything about this home screams relaxation in style. It has an enormous state-of-the-art pool, plenty of outdoor seating for sunbathing, and one of the nicest outdoor dining areas I've ever seen. This 1.6 million dollar vacation spot also has quite the neighborhood. Turns out that fighter Conor McGregor has a vacation spot just down the road. Cristiano Ronaldo is having a little trouble getting rid of his gorgeous Trump Tower estate in New York City. He picked up this 2,500 square foot pad in 2015 for 18.5 million. It was designed by Juan Pablo Molyneux, who is well known for his maximalism style. Once you get a look at the space, you see exactly what that means. The walls, the furniture, that amazing view of New York City. This apartment is 100% certified maximalized decadence. Only decadence like that doesn't appear to sell too well nowadays. When it came time to sell the place, it was clear from the get-go that it was gonna be for a loss. Originally, he put it on the market for 9 million dollars in 2019. The property then further dropped in value, forcing him to lower the price down to 7.7 million. That's more than 10 million less than what he paid. Even for epic footballers, the real estate world takes no prisoners. So how does Messi's empire compare to Ronaldo's? Can his home stand against so many giant estates? Leo Messi has lived in Barcelona most of his life, so it's no surprise that he and his family decided to build an expensive mansion there. It's a gorgeous modern estate where Messi loves to spend time with his family. For him, that seems to be the most important part, or at least for his social media manager. He has shared many posts and videos of he and the fam enjoying the home's private football pitch, having a drink on the rooftop terrace, camping out in the spacious living room with their dog, enjoying the home gym, playing basketball, or taking a dip in the pool. It's been reported that Messi dropped 2 million for the space and several more to renovate it into the home that's worth at least 6 million dollars today. Messi was rumored to have a place that would have taken this home competition all by itself. Years ago, a rumor went through the internet that he had a house that looked like a giant soccer ball. The 1-0 Eco House looked to be a massive eco-friendly mansion that combined modern convenience with a ton of greenery. It also had a built-in pool in the back and a giant skylight. Pictures of a bird's eye view made it seem like Messi had the ultimate footballer mansion. The only problem is, the house wasn't real. It was a proposed design made by Luis de Garrido. He specializes in self-sufficient green architecture. It was designed with Messi in mind, but the home is not being constructed for 2 million dollars after all. Nope, there's still time. If Messi does build this home, I will give him this win right now. That being said, he does have a ridiculously big Barcelona mansion. It's a 7 million dollar estate that might not look like a football, but that doesn't mean it's not still impressive to look at. The home looks remarkably similar to his other Barcelona mansion, which really says a lot about the kind of homes he prefers to buy. Like his other home, it features a football pitch and a playground that further highlights his family focus. I don't know if you can tell already, but there is a huge advantage when it comes to homes. Don't get me wrong, I would literally move into any of Messi's estates right now, but there's no comparison. Cristiano Ronaldo has one of the greatest collections of real estate I've ever seen. This man is one private island away from being one of the all-time greats. While Messi enjoys his estates with his family so much that they're one more kid away from a 90s family sitcom, it's not quite enough. There is absolutely no way Messi tops it. This is another goal for Ronaldo. Put it on the board. As you would expect, both of these men have ridiculous car collections as well. I mean, do you really expect either of them to be driving around in a Toyota? Cristiano Ronaldo's car collection is about what you'd expect. First, there's his incredibly classy Bentley Flying Spur that reportedly set him back over $200,000. This joins cars like his $200,000 Porsche 911 Turbo, his $274,000 Bentley Continental GT Speed, and his $117,000 Range Rover Sport SVR. Then there are his really expensive cars like his $1.7 million Ferrari Monza, his $2 million Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, and his $3 million Bugatti Chiron. On top of these, he's also got plenty of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royce, McLarens, and Bugattis. Messi has a pretty extensive collection of his own. Those include his Ferrari F430 Spyder worth $217,000, his Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG worth $200,000, and his Maserati Gran Turismo MC Stradale worth $166,000. His most expensive ride is his $1.6 million Pagani Zonda Tricolor. These sit alongside other high-profile rides like Audis, several Range Rovers, Cadillacs, and a Mini Cooper. Both of these guys have the kind of cars that most of the rest of us could only dream of. It almost seems ridiculous to have to compare them. Still, if I'm forced to make a call, I've got to say that there is a clear winner. Ronaldo has a ton of cars, many of them super rare and super expensive. While Messi hangs with the best of them, Ronaldo races to the front to take yet another point. So yeah, put another one on the board for Cristiano Ronaldo. Money alone may be the most important competition for some rich celebrities, but that's not what counts here. Ronaldo and Messi are two of the greatest football players the world has ever seen, so the question has to be asked, as far as stats go, who is the true greatest of all time? Well, let's start with just straight scoring. Who has scored the most points overall? Currently, Leo Messi is in the top three of all-time players with 758 goals. That may be impressive, but it's not quite enough. Cristiano Ronaldo has the unimaginable number of 803. This not only puts him above Messi, but everyone else as well. He's the number one. As far as awards and trophies go, that's a tight race too. Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Champion League five times, four with Real Madrid and once with Manchester United. Messi has won four times with Barcelona. There is another weird race that Ronaldo and Messi are in right now. This one's not on the pitch, but on Instagram. Currently, Cristiano Ronaldo is the record holder for most followers with 390 million, as of the writing of this video. That number's probably even higher now. Leo Messi is right on his tail, having just crossed the 300 million followers line. Of course, raw numbers will never give the full picture. There will always be fans that say with complete surety that Messi is the greatest of all time, and some will say Ronaldo. While there will always be debate over which one is better on the pitch, there's one area where there is no rivalry. In the art of being the better rich guy, Cristiano Ronaldo absolutely stomps Leo Messi. The average Premier League footballer makes $60,172 a week, so most of the guys you'd see Ted Lasso aren't pulling in as many Bugattis.