Billion-Dollar Ball

The signing of 35-year-old Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi to the Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami has rocked the sports world. The verdict is in: Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham is a sports deal mastermind as well as a legendary athlete. The acquisition, according to experts, has pushed Inter Miami’s valuation from $600 million to $1 billion. And that’s after the 48-year-old footballer earned $225 million on an initial investment of $25 million when he purchased the club—an audacious bid to transform Miami into a soccer town. Beckham and the ownership group snapped up the soccer club in 2014; the first game was played in 2020. In opting for Miami, Messi rejected a reported $400 million offer from Saudi Arabia; meanwhile, the Miami Herald reports that Messi’s deal will net him as much as $150 million in two and a half years. But some decisions are about more than money. Two years ago, clearly in a Miami state of mind, Messi bought a $7.3 million condo in Sunny Isles Beach.