In 2022, Michael Jordan managed to rake in a staggering $29,223 every single hour, solely from his partnership with Nike. This comes compared to Inter Miami star Lionel Messi’s hourly income of a modest $14,840 for 2022. Their income figures, sourced from Forbes, shed light on the contrast between these two sports icons.
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Both Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi are widely hailed as the GOAT in their respective sports. This naturally spurs conversations comparing the two. The comparisons gained even more traction when Messi transitioned to Major League Soccer from European football.
Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi’s hourly income for 2022 compared
In the year 2022, Michael Jordan’s income from his Nike deal amounted to an impressive $256,000,000. This was bolstered by his share of the Jordan Brand’s massive success. The renowned sneaker line reeled in a staggering $5.1 billion, with Jordan pocketing 5% of that total. This made him approximately $256 million in 2022 alone.
In contrast, Lionel Messi’s income had two main sources; his on-field earnings, comprising his salary, which amounted to $75 million. And the other source is in the form of off-field endorsements, an additional $55 million.
With 8760 hours in a year, the calculation for their hourly earnings for the year was quite simple! Dividing Jordan’s earnings from the Nike deal, which was $256,000,000 by 8760 results in the magical $29,223 figure for His Airness. Meanwhile, the same calculation applied to Messi’s complete yearly earnings of $130,000,000 yields a much lower figure of $14,840.
The comparison becomes even more striking considering $14,840 per hour was Messi’s yearly income, while $29,223 per hour was only from Jordan’s Nike deal.
The numbers this year, in 2023, are likely to look different. Messi’s move to the MLS has opened doors for fresh endorsement deals. The hourly income numbers between Jordan and Messi could see a new status quo. But there is little doubt about Jordan’s financial mind and it would be difficult for anyone to surpass.
Jordan is a financial mastermind
After an incredibly successful NBA career, Michael Jordan continued his domination even after retirement. He has now amassed approximately $3.5 billion in personal wealth. One major contributor to this was his shrewd investment in the Charlotte Hornets.
Acquiring the team in 2010 for $275 million, Jordan’s keen business acumen culminated in a remarkable sale in 2023, fetching approximately $3 billion. This transaction alone netted him a cool $2.7 billion profit. However, it will be interesting to see how this battle of the GOATs will turn out to be.
