Pelé: The football legend's surprising fortune revealed

One of the greatest legends of football and Brazil reached the stars on December 29, 2023, after 82 years of existence: Pelé. He had been battling colon cancer for many years but finally lost the fight. Sadly, he no longer responded to chemotherapy and was placed in palliative care.

For several days, doctors had already given up hope. Pelé was living his last hours and took the opportunity to say goodbye to his family. He joins another legend, Maradona, who died just over two years ago. At the time of his death, Pele said:

I have lost a dear friend and the world a legend. I hope that one day we will play together in heaven.

Let's hope for the sake of the two legends that they have found each other. Pelé leaves behind a sad and grieving world, a loving family, and a large fortune that will be passed on to his family and the future generation. But how much was it?

Who was Pelé?

It was not football that made him, but it was he who made football. Pelé, nicknamed the King, was a famous footballer. Born on 23 October 1940 in Brazil, Pelé, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is the son of Dondinho, a former footballer, and Celeste. He also has a brother named Jair, and a sister named Maria Lucia.

His family once lived in Três Coraçoes before moving to Bauru, in Sao Paulo, where his father got a job on the football team. Edson earned his nickname Pelé by following him to training.

A legend in football

He was soon spotted by Waldemar de Brito, who later took him to Santos FC. He proved himself at the club level and was approached by the Brazilian national team. Of course, he accepted the offer. He made his debut just three days after a match against Argentina, where he scored a goal.

After that, he was called up for the 1958 World Cup. At 17, Pelé became the youngest player in history to play in a World Cup match and above all to score. The Santos FC striker never ceased to impress: on 29 June 1958, Brazil won the competition for the first time in its history. It was the beginning of the legend.

It was a victory that he repeated in 1962 and 1966. Pelé became the only player in the world to win three World Cups. In his career, he scored more than 1,000 goals. He also won the Sao Paulo championship 11 times.

At the age of 40, King Pelé retired. But it was not all over for him, as he became an ambassador for the UN and UNESCO, ambassador for the 2014 World Cup, and Brazil's Minister of Sport.

What is King Pelé's fortune?

One thing is for sure, football in Pelé's time was not quite the same as it is today. Nowadays, the sport is much more connected with money than it used to be: business in football is more talked about. Footballers today are millionaires, some of them even billionaires.

And despite the great fame of the man nicknamed 'O Rei', the footballer did not have an extraordinary fortune. In fact, Forbes magazine estimated that if the striker had been part of today's football, he would have earned around $223 million a year.

Especially since he only played for two clubs during his career: Santos FC and New York Cosmos. In 1961, his salary was revealed: Pelé earned 2 million reals (Brazilian currency), or about $380,000. This was certainly a substantial salary, but certainly not commensurate with his legend and his game.

Real estate and partnerships

According to the newspaper El Mundo, the footballer also bought a house, more precisely a mansion, for $100,000. A few years later, Pelé made a big profit by selling it for $3 million.

In addition to football and real estate, Pelé was also been approached by many brands to become an ambassador or to do advertising, including Hublot, Emirates, Volkswagen, etc. According to the El Mundo, his fortune is worth around €100 million (over $106 million).

The question now is: who will possess the fortune of Pelé?

This article was translated from Oh!MyMag FR.

Sources used:

-El Mundo: 'Pelé, en cifras: 80 años, 100 millones de dólares, más de 1.000 goles, tres esposas, seis hijos y una silla de ruedas'