fb

Lionel Messi’s Ferrari cost more than peak Michael Jordan’s annual NBA salary

He picked it up at auction, kicking his biggest rival Cristiano Ronaldo out of the bidding war.

Published on Jun 2, 2023 at 2:40PM (UTC+4)

Last updated on Jun 7, 2023 at 8:48AM (UTC+4)

Edited by Kate Bain
Lionel Messi Ferrari cost more than Michael Jordan's salary

Remember when Lionel Messi dropped a cool $36 million on a Ferrari

Yeah, it’s one of those things that’s pretty hard to forget. 

The world’s second highest-paid footballer spent $36m on the one-of-a-kind Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti in February this year.

READ MORE! Lionel Messi’s rumored multimillion-dollar move to Saudi Arabia is reportedly a ‘done deal’

To put that kind of money in perspective, that’s more than Michael Jordan earned in an entire season when he played for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA. 

Yep, Jordan earned ‘just’ $33 million during the 1997/98 season and he was the highest-paid basketball player in the NBA at the time.

The supercar in question was the 1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti that Sir Stirling Moss raced in the Cuban Grand Prix in 1958. 

The Ferrari has a 4.0-liter engine and can reach a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). 

After the crazy purchase, Messi took to Instagram with a photo of a Hot Wheels car, joking that was his new ride.

What made the purchase even sweeter for Messi was the fact he reportedly kicked his biggest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, out of the bidding war. 

But while Messi might have won the bidding war, he’s still trailing behind Ronaldo in earnings. 

Cristiano Ronaldo became the world’s highest-paid athlete once again this year. 

The Portuguese forward, 38, moved to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr at the beginning of this year after leaving Manchester United. 

The football superstar was paid extremely well for the deal, with his base salary amounting to about USD $75 million (and that’s without commercial deals on the side).

But Messi could be about to knock him off the number one position. 

Messi, 35, is rumored to be in talks with Saudi team Al-Hilal for a behemoth £400 million (USD $505 million) contract. 

The deal would make him the highest-paid athlete in the world, and make that $36 million he dropped on the Ferrari look like a drop in the ocean. 

You might be interested in

Related Articles

Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains to launch luxury private rooms
Lamborghini unveils new Urus SE plug-in hybrid, the most powerful Urus ever made
Elon Musk claims new Model 3 is quicker than a Porsche 911
Lamborghini's Sterrato gets nature-inspired makeover with four limited-edition camo liveries
Asia's richest person's son, Akash Ambani, drives $1M Ferrari, escorted by 9 SUV convoy
Steve Jobs' obsession with $45m Gulfstream Jet inspired quirky Apple design
Inside the world's largest doomsday community home to $55,000 bunkers
MrBeast reveals enormous production scale behind single video in behind-the-scenes footage