The Financial Fairytale Befitting Pelé’s Amazing Life

The picture says it all, Pelé, the man who laid the blueprint for Ronaldo, Messi, and every other world-class football player, passed away at 82 on Dec. 29th, 2022 in his native Brazil, from Colon Cancer. The man LOVED FOOTBALL!

Ironically, his death came only a day before Cristiano Ronaldo signaled the winding down of his storied career by signing a $212 million yearly contract with the Saudi Arabian team, Al Nassr and a couple of weeks after Lionel Messi won the World Cup for Argentina. Though the skills Pelé popularised have earned his understudies fortunes, he was at the peak of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, when athletes’ earnings, particularly those based in South America, without lucrative European contracts, were minuscule compared to those of today. Upon his passing, like many an impoverished icon before him, many people wondered if Pelé died destitute or with a fortune to pass on to his seven children. Happily, it appears to be the latter.

According to multiple news sources, Pelé was worth a mighty $100 million at the time of his passing. Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on Oct. 23, 1940, in Três Corações, a tiny rural town in the state of Minas Gerais, Pelé began shining shoes at the age of seven at the local railway station to supplement the family’s income. Towards the end of his career, he would pioneer the kind of multi-million dollar sports contracts that have become common amongst elite athletes today.

A one-club player in Brazil at Santos, when he was contemplating leaving his boyhood team in 1970 as he approached his 30th birthday, Henry A. Kissinger, the United States secretary of state at the time, wrote to the Brazilian government asking it to release Pelé to play in the United States as a way to help promote soccer, and Brazil, in America. Amazingly, Pelé was persuaded to join the fledgling New York Cosmos, a team born only a month earlier. Even more astounding was an agreement he signed at a hotel at Kennedy International Airport to play for $75 a game! 

Eventually, Pelé left Santos in 1974 as Real Madrid of Spain and Juventus of Italy, each offered him a deal worth $15 million. The New York Cosmos, now owned by Warner Communications, sweetened the pot to play in the US by adding a music deal, and a marketing deal guaranteeing him 50 percent of any licensing revenue involving his name, and a guarantee to hire his friend Mazzei as an assistant coach. Pelé eventually signed a three-year contract worth, according to various estimates, $2.8 million to $7 million (the latter equivalent to about $40 million today).

Though the world’s highest-paid athlete at the height of his career, Pele made most of his fortune after retiring in 1977 with multiple endorsements, particularly from Puma. In 1970, Puma brokered a deal for Pelé to take to the center of the field before the World Cup quarter-final match between Brazil and Peru and ask the referee for time to tie his boots. His boots, of course, were made by Puma. The brand reportedly paid the superstar $125,000 for the privilege ($25,000 for the tournament, plus $100,000 for the following four years and a cut of branded boot sales, equivalent to $1 million today)

Other lucrative endorsement deals for Pelé included:

Hublot: Pelé signed an endorsement deal with French luxury watchmaker Hublot in 2013 to honor the legend’s legacy and draw the attention of past and present football stars.

Volkswagon: Pelé teamed up to represent the German car manufacturer in a lucrative deal that saw him enjoy high-profile roles at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, both of which were held in Brazil.

Subway: The American sandwich chain signed a contract with Pelé in 2013 to serve as the company’s brand ambassador. Pelé appeared in Subway commercials and in-store promotions both domestically and abroad.

Emirates Airlines: The Middle Eastern Airline operator signed a partnership agreement with Pelé in 2014 to be the brand’s international ambassador.

Other Endorsement deals included Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Santander Bank, Visa, Mastercard and more. Interestingly in 2002, he also became a brand ambassador for the impotence drug Viagra while claiming that he never used it! Pelé appeared in multiple films, including, most famously, “Escape To Victory” in 1979 alongside Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone. In 2016 a biopic, “Pelé: Birth of A Legend,” was made about his life and in 2021, Netflix made a documentary about him. Pelé also recorded music, most successfully with Brazil superstar Gilberto Gil, who later became a politician.

In 2019, Pelé opened a flagship store in New York City, in the heart of Times Square. Located in the former Empire Theater building at 1560 Broadway, the store sells merchandise from the official Pelé soccer brand, plus over 100 teams worldwide. The brand opened other stores worldwide and has additional US stores in Orlando, Miami Fl, and Anaheim, Ca.

Real Estate

At the time of his death, Pelé owned three homes in Brazil: A $4 million mansion in the beachfront city of Guarujá, São Paolo plus two other properties in Santos and São Paulo. He’d previously also owned a home in the Hamptons in New York State which sold for $2.85 million in 2018 after purchasing it in 1979 for $156,000. 

Conclusion

Though details of the individual business deals Pelé did remain largely opaque, what is evident is that Pelé earned the majority of his income long after hanging up his boots and becoming a legend. His global brand transcended generations and nations because his ability remained so revered. His record of scoring 1,283 professional goals throughout his career and winning three World Cup titles is unlikely to be beaten. The fact that Pelé passed away with a sizable fortune that befits his stature within the game adds a fairytale end to an incredible life.