David Beckham vs Lionel Messi: who is richer?

Briefly, very briefly, they were on opposing teams in one of the biggest rivalries in world football - even if they only actually faced each other a couple of times at club level wearing the colours of Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Now David Beckham and Lionel Messi are very much on the same side. The Inter Miami owner, together with Jorge Mas, managed to close the signing of the Argentine maestro, considered one of the greatest players that the game has ever seen.

Messi’s arrival captured US imagination. The star of the last World Cup arrived in Miami to put pen to paper and immediately became by far the franchise’s biggest ever signing - and if not the greatest in MLS history, certainly the most publicized.

No signing has caused such a stir since Beckham left Real Madrid to sign for the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. That year, he became the highest-paid player in MLS history with a salary of $6.5 million. Messi’s arrival has undoubtedly generated even more expectation.

Beckham or Messi: who has the bigger fortune?

Ahead of the big move, as revealed in a thread by journalist Joe Pompliano, Beckham earned more than $500 million while playing with the Angelenos, and, according to the prestigious Celebrity Net Worth portal, his fortune today stands at an eye-watering $450 million.

How does that compare to Messi’s? The former PSG player’s fortune is estimated to be close to $600 million dollars - a figure that could quite easily continue to increase because the Argentine star’s contract includes a cut of profits from shirt sales and television broadcasting rights.

Messi will take home a salary the likes of which has never been seen before in MLS. According to several sources, he will earn a figure somewhere between $40 million and $50 million - and that’s without counting sponsorship revenue and other add-ons included in his contract.

Easy money... assuming you work hard at something from a young age and become the best in the world.