I get that it's a lot of money, that's why I'm interested in it as a study in greed. Because like I said, these guys are already unfathomably wealthy and the logical answer to "How can they say no?" is "They already have way more money than they, or anyone in their family, will ever need." In a lot of ways, it's a larger example of the PGA Pros going to play LIV Golf. Perhaps Messi and Ronaldo have plans for what they are going to do with a billion dollars that they can't do with all their wealth at the moment...maybe Messi is going to give it all to Barcelona to get them out of debt, but it's still greed.
There is also something so soul-less about it. This is certainly the most lucrative end-of-career option for Ronaldo, and possibly Messi, but it's playing in a league that has attendances often in the triple digits, that nobody cares about. When you think about end-of-career options for Messi, like rolling back to Barcelona with a team friendly deal, or going to play in Argentina where he will be a god, it's a shame to think of him playing anonymously in the desert.
OK, I see where you're at now.
So, I think getting inside the head of someone who's
that far off the deep end of the career-earnings bell curve is challenging but useful, especially given the extent to which such people shape our world. You've got a few archetypes, including but not limited to:
1. Ultra-competitive type-A: Careers are a game, and you keep score with money. The satisfaction I get comes from being higher than others in a pecking order, being able to look down on them. My salary is my worth relative to others, and thus it's a measure of respect. I need maximum money at all times or I am clearly not respected enough. Tom Brady. Or Pedro Martinez, if you remember his comments before he ultimately signed with the Mets. Larry Ellison.
2. Creators: I have a passion to
build something, or many somethings, during my scant time on earth. I want to leave behind institutions, giant machines that do stuff for humanity, and yeah they need to throw off cash and yeah they employ people, but the project is the point. And the more fuel I get for those projects (money), the faster I can realize those dreams. Many entrepreneurs great and small have this as their leading voice; The Social Network did a great job portraying the mentality, the monomania of it, the dark side, but very truthful in that respect.
3. Visionaries: I have a strong, vibrant idea for how the world needs to be
different, and/or for how I will be represented and remembered in it. Many successful politicians fall into this group; they're operating within existing institutions, not usually building new ones, but they want to reshape the world in specific ways. It's not just about self-glorification, although that's often part of it; more, it's about imposing your will on the world, being
the unreasonable man.
4. Providers: I began this business or career to
provide for my family, to make my parents comfortable, and so long as I grind, I will keep demonstrating that I've made the most of my potential, and earned my parents' love. That's what drives me, a belief that if I slow down, I will let down the people important to me. Think of Denzel in
American Gangster, getting the most gratification of all from putting his parents in a fancy house.
5. Local Gentry: I can be important and fit into the fabric of a town, a region, an industry, as an irreplaceable piece. I may have been born into a business, a family business, or I may just be provincial in my life outlook and scope. I run something fancy that might be "the only game in town", or I'm "the big fish in a small pond", and that means more to me than making the whole world my pond and maybe finding out I'm not so special.
These guys.
6. Survivors: I come from poverty, and have deep trauma scars from the terrors that such an upbringing can imprint on you. All I know is how to keep fighting for every piece of the pie that I can get, because a very small scared child who will always be inside of me never knows where the next meal is coming from, or if someone I love is going to come home tonight. I've seen people from my world get ground into dust by the dog-eat-dog environment I'm from, maybe some of them killed in the competition. And dammit if I'm one of the winners who got out of that place, I'm going to milk that win for all that it's worth. Famous pro athletes who nevertheless get into trouble with the law usually have a slice of this to their story.
(There are others, and I'm no expert, I've just read a bunch.)
Messi hasn't shared enough of himself and his inner thoughts, un-polished by layers of PR handlers, to give us much of a clue as to what really drives him. I suspect a mix of #1 and #6, moreso than #2. His future employers are really #5 whose "family business" got entirely out of hand, but they
tell themselves that they're #3. Messi, Ronaldo, Brady, Tiger, anyone at the top of a competitive craft like entertainment, usually have had to be such monomaniacs to stay on top that they don't have very much breadth to their vision. The Serena Williamses who teach themselves venture capital, the Roger Staubachs who build a real estate empire - the ones who set it all aside and put that same energy into something unfamiliar and scary where they could fail - are few and far between.
Anyway I don't have a firm conclusion for you, but I hope that's a helpful framework for looking at it. In other words, it's not as simple as "I can't spend all this money". Spending it isn't the point, it's never the point.
