Franco Baresi, the former AC Milan and Italian footballer, passed away last Friday at age 66. He spent all twenty years of his playing career at one single club, which is incredibly rare in present-day soccer.
How valuable do you think that dedication was to him? There isn’t any way to accurately determine the value of that commitment. The estimated net worth of Baresi can vary greatly depending on the source (some of them claim that his net worth is over $5 million while other sources say that it is well above $90 million).
Most reputable estimates suggest that he made approximately between $15 million and $20 million throughout his career, mostly through his wage payments by AC Milan, tournament payoffs, and sponsorship contracts.
Baresi started playing professionally in the early part of the 80s, and continued to play until the mid-1990s. At this time, professional players were paid far less than the money which top athletes make today.
In fact, according to various reports, Baresi’s highest yearly earnings in AC Milan (approximately $400,000) were still significantly lower than many professional athletes earn today.
It appears that Baresi was not really interested in money only as evident from the fact that he didn’t switch to high-paying clubs from AC Milan. He chose to remain with AC Milan despite their relegation to Serie B due to a match fixing scandal in 1980.
He also served as captain of AC Milan for 15 consecutive seasons; and although AC Milan won six Serie A championships, three European Championships, and the 1982 FIFA World Cup Championship under his leadership, they only officially retired his jersey number (6) upon his retirement in 1997.
More recently, AC Milan named him an honorary vice president in 2020, a position largely symbolic of respect rather than financial compensation.
Baresi only held a position at English Premier League team Fulham for a short period immediately following his retirement as an active player.
Whatever the legend’s net worth may be, the legacy of Baresi is truly defined by his performance on the field and not by his financial returns.
