Lionel Messi Net Worth: Messi not the highest-paid athlete anymore as he leaves Barcelona

Lionel Messi ended his illustrious career with FC Barcelona with a staggering net worth of $600 million.

Barcelona announced on Thursday that Messi will not be staying at the club "because of financial and structural obstacles". The Argentina captain, who started his professional career with the Catalans, has been a free agent since July 1 when his contract expired. He had agreed a new deal on reduced wages with the club two weeks later, but it was dependent on Barcelona selling players to afford his salary.

"Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled," Barcelona said in an official statement.

As Messi leaves his boyhood club, he is no longer the world's highest-paid athlete despite earning tens of millions from Barcelona and endorsements separately. While Messi earned an astonishing $130 million in the past 12 months, he did not top Forbes' list of the highest-paid athletes in the world for 2021. He lost to mixed martial arts' biggest star, Conor McGregor, who is estimated to have made $180 million.

In his 21-year-old association with the Camp Nou side, Messi was involved in a total of 977 goals (672 goals + 305 assists) in 778 competitive appearances for Barcelona, helping the club win many laurels, including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.

Messi's Barcelona contract was leaked by Spanish newspaper el Mundo in January, which revealed the six-time Ballon d'Or winner earned up to $165 million annually in salary and incentives. This figure was much higher than previously thought and "unmatched" in team sports, according to Forbes.

In addition to that, Messi earned roughly $40 million pear year from endorsements, which means he likely earned around $200 million per year, according to Celebrity New Worth. The 34-year-old forward has commitments with a long list of brands and companies, including Anheuser Busch InBev, Gatorade, Hard Rock Cafe, Jacob & Co, Ooredoo and Pepsi. The Copa America 2021 winner also has a lifelong deal with Adidas that he signed in 2017.

Apart from that, Messi boosts 242 million followers on Instagram, a platform he used to post about his charity work and also promote his lifestyle brand, The Messi Store. He launched his clothing line and opened his first retail outlet in Barcelona in 2019.

Messi first topped the Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning sports stars in 2019. With total earnings of $127 million that year, Messi beat boxing icon Floyd Mayweather, who previously held the top spot on the list four times.

Messi was dethroned by Swiss Master Roger Federer for Forbes' 2020 list and the football superstar had fallen to No. 3 in the list, below second-placed and fellow football legend Cristiano Ronaldo. However, a few months later, Messi beat Ronaldo to take the top spot on the magazine's 2020 ranking of the highest-paid football players in the world with $126 million in earnings.