Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mohamed Salah: Defining Football’s Greatest Era and Preparing for Life Beyond the Pitch
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah have spent the last two decades defining one of football’s greatest eras. Now, as the 2026 FIFA World Cup marks Ronaldo’s final appearance at the tournament and another defining moment in Messi and Salah’s careers, they are also preparing for life beyond the pitch.
A Memorable World Cup and Respect Among Rivals
Before Messi’s Argentina beat Salah’s Egypt on Tuesday in one of the best matches of the tournament, Salah was asked which player he would choose for a final “last dance” from a generation that included both Messi and Ronaldo. He chose Messi without hesitation. The response carried added weight given that Ronaldo had already confirmed that this would be his last FIFA World Cup before Portugal’s round of 16 defeat to Spain, ending his six-tournament World Cup career.
Diverging Paths: Investments and Business Ventures
However, outside of football, the players’ futures begin to diverge. Messi and Ronaldo have increasingly taken stakes in AI, health tech and startup companies, while Salah has largely stuck to a more traditional mix of business partnerships, ownership and philanthropy.
This shift has accelerated over the past decade, with venture capital firms and startups increasingly seeking celebrity investors who bring more to the table than just money. A footballer with hundreds of millions of followers can offer global reach, credibility and distribution that few traditional investors can match.
“The shift from traditional sponsorship deals to equity investments and investments in startups reflects a broader focus on long-term wealth creation and financial security beyond an athlete’s playing career,” says Kamraan Khan, partner at Dubai-based firm Archers Valuation and Advisory.
Messi’s Strategic Investment Moves
During the past decade, elite athletes have increasingly traded one-off sponsorship fees for stakes in companies, joining a broader trend that has seen sports stars become investors rather than just brand ambassadors. In October 2022, Messi launched Play Time HoldCo, a San Francisco-based investment company alongside entrepreneur Razmig Hovaghimian, founder of video streaming platform Viki, previously acquired by Rakuten. The company’s objective is simple: to invest in companies operating in the fields of sports, media and technology.
“While sponsorships typically generate income during an athlete’s highest earning years, equity investments can provide the potential for capital appreciation and, where applicable, future dividend income, helping to create more sustainable wealth after retirement,” notes Khan.
Originally expected to aim for around $200 million, Play Time has since built a portfolio that increasingly resembles a Silicon Valley venture capital fund.
According to Play Time’s website, its bets include FieldAI, Fish Audio, World Labs, Perceptron, Intangible and SuperAnnotate, as well as sports-specific investments in licensed mobile game FIFA Matchday and memorabilia market AC Momento.
Outside of Play Time, Messi also owns a stake in fantasy football platform Sorare, which allows users to purchase and trade officially licensed digital player cards, and has joined the ownership group of KRÜ Esports, the Valorant and Rocket League organization founded by his former Argentine teammate Sergio Agüero. His three-year deal, worth $20 million, to serve as a global ambassador for blockchain fan token platform Socios.com, is a paid promotional contract and not an undisclosed equity stake.
As part of his historic 2023 move to Inter Miami, Messi received an ownership share in addition to his salary and signing bonus, an arrangement unprecedented in Major League Soccer. Although reports have speculated about the extent of this participation, neither the club nor MLS have publicly confirmed the details.
Sportico valued Inter Miami at $1.45 billion in February 2026, up 22% year-over-year and the highest valuation in MLS history.
Ronaldo’s Focus on Health Technology
If Messi’s investments are akin to Silicon Valley’s AI boom, Ronaldo’s is almost entirely focused on health technology, a field that closely aligns with the personal brand he spent decades cultivating around fitness and longevity.
Ronaldo became an investor in Whoop, the wearable fitness tracker and health analytics company, in May 2024, a deal Whoop himself called “one of Ronaldo’s most important investments to date”, despite having already been a paying member for years. “Whoop has become one of the most important tools I use to support my long-term health,” he said at the time. Whoop’s foray into the UAE is supported by both the Qatar Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Company.
For more details on their investment strategies, visit the full article here.
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