Buy a slice of football icon Lionel Messi's $373m real estate portfolio

Argentine football legend Lionel Messi has long been regarded as one of the world’s greatest players. 

With his soccer success has come substantial earnings. Messi is estimated to have a net worth of around $US650 million ($AU1.05 billion). 

Messi rounded off 2024 by listing his real estate investment trust on a small Spanish stock exchange. 

His company, Edificio Rostower Socimi, owns seven hotels along with shops, offices, and houses. 

Each share costs €57.40 ($AU96.09), bringing the total value of the trust to €223 million ($AU373 million). 

Messi’s firm became a real estate investment trust (REIT) in mid-December, just days after the Spanish parliament blocked a proposal to increase taxes on real estate trusts. 

In Spain, REITs benefit from a zero per cent corporate tax rate, as long as they are listed on the stock exchange and distribute four-fifths of their income in dividends. 

Investors in Spain tend to list REITs on stock exchanges in order to enjoy these tax benefits, rather than to raise money. 

Messi’s decision to list his real estate trust happened swiftly. The company appeared on a small digital stock exchange just weeks after it first became an REIT. 

The football player owns several hotels in Spain, including the ultra-luxurious Hotel MiM Ibiza es Vivé. The opulent Art Deco hotel is for adults only, and is located on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. 

He also owns several luxury homes, including a coastal mansion in Castelldefels just outside Barcelona. 

Since his relocation to Inter Miami FC in 2023, Messi has set his sights on South Florida real estate. 

He owns a sprawling waterfront mansion in the gated community of Fort Lauderdale, along with at least three Miami penthouses.