Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mohamed Salah have spent the previous 20 years defining one in all soccer’s biggest eras. Now, because the 2026 FIFA World Cup marks Ronaldo’s closing look on the event and one other defining second within the careers of Messi and Salah, they’re additionally making ready for all times past the pitch.
Earlier than Messi’s Argentina beat Salah’s Egypt in one of many event’s greatest matches on Tuesday, Salah was requested which participant he would select for one closing “final dance” from a technology that included each Messi and Ronaldo. He selected Messi with out hesitation. The reply carried further weight provided that Ronaldo had already confirmed this may be his closing FIFA World Cup earlier than Portugal’s Spherical of 16 defeat to Spain, bringing an finish to his six-tournament World Cup profession.
Away from soccer, nonetheless, the gamers’ futures are starting to diverge. Messi and Ronaldo have more and more embraced fairness stakes in AI, well being tech, and startup corporations, whereas Salah has largely caught to a extra conventional combine of economic partnerships, property, and philanthropy.
That shift has accelerated over the previous decade as enterprise capital companies and startups more and more seek celebrity investors who deliver greater than cash. A footballer with a whole bunch of tens of millions of followers can supply international attain, credibility, and distribution that few conventional buyers can match.
“The shift from conventional sponsorship agreements in the direction of fairness stakes and startup investments displays a broader give attention to long-term wealth creation and monetary safety past an athlete’s enjoying profession,” says Kamraan Khan, a associate at Dubai-based agency Archers Valuation and Advisory.
Over the previous decade, elite athletes have more and more traded one-off endorsement charges for possession stakes in corporations, becoming a member of a broader pattern that has seen sports activities stars turn into buyers fairly than simply model ambassadors. In October 2022, Messi launched Play Time HoldCo, a San Francisco–based mostly funding agency alongside entrepreneur Razmig Hovaghimian, founding father of video-streaming platform Viki, which had earlier been acquired by Rakuten. The agency’s purpose is straightforward: spend money on corporations working throughout sports activities, media, and know-how.
“Whereas sponsorships usually generate revenue throughout an athlete’s peak incomes years, fairness investments can present the potential for capital appreciation and, the place relevant, future dividend revenue, serving to to construct extra sustainable wealth after retirement,” notes Khan.
Initially reported to be concentrating on roughly $200 million, Play Time has since assembled a portfolio that more and more resembles a Silicon Valley enterprise fund.
Per Play Time’s web site, its bets embody FieldAI, Fish Audio, World Labs, Perceptron, Intangible, and SuperAnnotate, alongside sports-specific investments within the FIFA-licensed mobile game Matchday and the memorabilia market AC Momento.
Exterior Play Time, Messi additionally holds an fairness stake in fantasy soccer platform Sorare, which lets customers purchase and commerce formally licensed digital participant playing cards, and joined the possession group of KRÜ Esports, the Valorant and Rocket League group based by his former Argentina teammate Sergio Agüero. His three-year, reportedly $20 million deal to function international ambassador for the blockchain fan-token platform Socios.com is a paid promotional contract, not an undisclosed fairness stake.
As a part of his landmark 2023 transfer to Inter Miami, Messi acquired an possession part alongside his wage and signing bonus—an unprecedented arrangement in Main League Soccer. Whereas studies have speculated concerning the dimension of that stake, neither the membership nor MLS has publicly confirmed the main points.
Sportico valued Inter Miami at $1.45 billion in February 2026, up 22 p.c year-on-year and the very best valuation in MLS historical past.
If Messi’s investments mirror Silicon Valley’s AI increase, Ronaldo’s are centered nearly solely on well being know-how—an space that aligns carefully with the private model he has spent many years cultivating round health and longevity.
Ronaldo became an investor in Whoop—the wearable health tracker and well being analytics firm—in Might 2024, a deal that Whoop itself called “one in all Ronaldo’s most important investments thus far,” after he had already been a paying member for years. “Whoop has turn into some of the vital instruments I take advantage of to assist my long-term well being,” he stated on the time. Whoop’s foray into the UAE is backed by each the Qatar Funding Authority and Mubadala Funding Firm.
