Messi is not an exception: Ronaldo has invested in Perplexity, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rosberg, and Djokovic are also launching VC funds, serving as advisors, and acting as LPs.

Article author and source: 0x9999in1, ME News



TL;DR

• Lionel Messi’s investment platform, Play Time, has added World Labs, founded by Fei-Fei Li, to its portfolio, sitting alongside NVIDIA, AMD, and Autodesk.
• In February this year, World Labs raised $1 billion, achieving a post-money valuation of approximately $5.4 billion, focusing on "spatial intelligence"—enabling AI to understand, generate, and manipulate 3D worlds.
• Play Time was founded in October 2022 with an initial fund of approximately $200 million. Since its inception, it has made 10 investments, initially focusing on sports and now almost entirely betting on AI.
• Messi is not an exception: Ronaldo has invested in Perplexity, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rosberg, and Djokovic are also launching VC funds, serving as advisors, and acting as LPs.
• World models are one of the hottest sectors in 2026, with Forbes reporting that venture capitalists have invested approximately $3 billion in this area.
• The real question isn't whether Messi can invest, but whether athletes without a professional background can earn money beyond their understanding.

A tissue, a team, an investment list

Let me start with a scenario.

The just-concluded US-Mexico-Canada World Cup final ended with Spain defeating Argentina 1-0. At 39 years old, Messi stood on the field, crying. With 8 goals and 4 assists, he nearly carried Argentina to the final on his own, but failed to defend their title.

This is likely his final match in his World Cup career.

The era of the king of football is coming to an end. But few have noticed that another thread has long been quietly unfolding.

Visit the Play Time website, and in the portfolio section, a name is prominently displayed: World Labs.

World Labs is the company of Fei-Fei Li, the Stanford professor known as the "Godmother of AI," who created ImageNet and is among the most highly cited researchers worldwide.

So the question arises: How did an Argentine who played soccer for over twenty years end up on the same funding list as a leading scholar in computer vision?

And this list is no ordinary one. In February this year, World Labs completed a new round of funding worth $1 billion, pushing its post-money valuation to approximately $5.4 billion and bringing its total funding to over $1.2 billion. The lead and participating investors include names like NVIDIA, AMD, and Autodesk.

NVIDIA, AMD, Autodesk... and then Messi.

Isn't this scene surreal?

Play Time is not a hobby.

Many people’s first reaction: Athlete investments are just about putting their name on it, throwing in some money, and taking a couple of photos together.

But this Play Time token doesn't seem like a casual project.

Go back to October 2022, just before the Qatar World Cup. Messi founded Play Time in San Francisco, with a slogan that says it all—“At the intersection of sports & technology.” The inaugural fund amounted to approximately $200 million.

It’s not about Messi himself, but about the people he brings in.

Partner Razmig Hovaghimian has real credentials: he built the video streaming platform Viki, which he sold to Rakuten for approximately $200 million, and later became a partner at Graph Ventures, an early-stage Silicon Valley fund. Special Advisor Michael Marquez is also a well-known figure in the Silicon Valley venture capital community.

In other words, Messi provides the money and the name, while experienced professionals handle the operations—that’s the key.

According to PitchBook data, Play Time has made 10 investments since late 2022, including early stakes in the soccer gaming platform Matchday and the soccer collectibles platform AC Momento—aligning closely with its “sports star” persona.

But the next few strokes took a sudden turn.

AI data platform SuperAnnotate, 3D visualization tool Intangible, physical world foundation model Perceptron, robotics developer Field AI, voice AI generation platform Fish Audio... plus World Labs this time.

Got it? This isn’t just throwing money around. AI foundational data, 3D generation, physical world modeling, physical robots, speech generation—it hits nearly all the hottest cutting-edge fields right now. And behind Field AI are NVIDIA, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos.

The fact that a footballer’s investment platform has made it onto these lists speaks volumes. At the very least, it shatters the stereotype that sports stars crossing over only invest in real estate, restaurants, or streetwear brands.

Play Time invested in hard technology.

Why specifically "world model"?

Then let’s dig deeper: Why World Labs? Why spatial intelligence?

Because it is one of the hottest areas in the AI community in 2026.

Over the past two years, everyone has been chasing large language models—ChatGPT, Gemini, and countless other models—competing over text, conversation, and predicting the next word. But Li Fei-Fei made an early observation: language is only one part of human intelligence; true intelligence must be able to understand three-dimensional space, perceive, generate, and interact with the physical world.

This is "spatial intelligence," and it's the underlying logic behind the rising popularity of the concept of a "world model."

Let AI not only chat, but truly “understand” the world—and then act within it. Robots need it, AR/VR need it, architectural design, film production, and autonomous driving all need it.

Capital is rushing in. According to Forbes’ June 2026 figures, venture capitalists have poured approximately $3 billion into the world models space. World Labs’ $1 billion is merely the most prominent of these investments. Meanwhile, in the same period, General Intuition secured a $320 million Series A round in June, valuing the company at $2.3 billion—also backed by Bezos.

This is a new arms race. And this time, it’s not just about algorithms—it’s about the ability to model the physical world.

Why is World Labs valued at $5.4 billion?

To be honest, it doesn’t yet have a universally recognized breakout product. Its value lies in Li Fei-Fei’s esteemed reputation, in giants like NVIDIA and AMD betting real money on it, and in the fact that this sector is widely regarded as “the next big opportunity.”

Let’s be honest here: a high valuation doesn’t equal realization. Spatial computing remains a highly early-stage field, heavily dependent on expectations. A valuation of over $5 billion is buying into future potential, not current cash flow.

When hot money flows in, it’s also most vulnerable to getting burned. Play Time won’t fail to understand this.

Messi is not turning alone.

Pull back the camera, and you'll see that Messi's turn wasn't lonely at all.

NBA star Andre Iguodala once said something quite striking: When I first entered the NBA, everyone talked about luxury cars and designer brands; now everyone talks about which tech companies they’ve invested in.

This statement is becoming a footnote across the entire sports world.

Take a look at this list. Cristiano Ronaldo invested in Perplexity, an AI search company founded in 2022, which has now reached a valuation of over $20 billion; he also holds stakes in numerous other companies, including the health and wearable platform WHOOP. Giannis Antetokounmpo founded BYL Ventures. Former F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg raised $100 million for his own venture capital fund. Novak Djokovic joined Atlantic Partners as a global strategic advisor.

The same applies domestically. Li Ning partnered with PE to launch a fund, Yao Ming teamed up with professionals to establish Yaowei Capital, and Yi Jianlian directly invested in companies like 52TOYS.

A clear trend is emerging: top athletes, in the middle to later stages of their careers, are proactively reaching out to venture capitalists. Where once they retired to become coaches, commentators, or restaurant owners, now they aim to extend their business empires beyond the field through equity.

Why?

First, there’s the money. According to Forbes data from June, Messi’s personal net worth has surpassed $1.1 billion, with an annual income of approximately $140 million. With so much cash on hand, simply earning interest won’t keep up with inflation, let alone the pace of the times.

Second, the time window. An athlete’s peak years are short, but their influence can last. While their fame is still strong and their network is still active, converting intangible assets into equity is a smart move.

Third is identity anxiety. Who wants to be remembered only for who they once were? What players like Messi want is to be known for who they still are.

Reputation can open doors, but it can't break through the wall of understanding.

But—there must be a but.

Investing has never been easy.

Venture capital—the words “risk” come first. Especially in fields you know nothing about, failure is the norm, not an exception. Star players may have money, but hard tech investing isn’t about who has the most funds—it’s about judgment.

Messi understands offside traps and can read the positioning of opposing defenders—but can he understand the technical roadmap of world models? Can he judge which approach, World Labs or General Intuition, is more likely to succeed?

Most likely, no.

So what does Play Time rely on? It relies on the structure mentioned earlier—Messi brings fame and capital, while experts like Hovaghimian make the decisions. Fame opens the door to Silicon Valley; expertise makes the choices inside.

This is a smart division of labor. Fame can get you into the round led by NVIDIA—that in itself is a scarce resource. But beyond that, whether you can make money depends on the expertise of your team and whether this sector can ultimately deliver on its promise.

Yi Jianlian offered another, more stable approach: in addition to direct investments, he entrusted a portion of his funds to professional institutions and became a limited partner (LP). Instead of making decisions himself, he outsourced the decision-making to more specialized professionals.

This may be closer to the essence of investing.

There’s an old saying that fits perfectly here: it’s hard to make money beyond what you understand. Fame can be a lever, a ticket in—but it cannot sustain an entire investment strategy. What truly determines how far Play Time will go is never the three characters “Messi,” but rather the unnamed team behind it, and the real-world outcomes these sectors will deliver over the next five to ten years.

In conclusion

The outcome of the match will eventually come to an end. With the final whistle, Messi’s World Cup journey has likely reached its conclusion.

But the race in the tech industry has just begun.

Investing in World Labs could add a legendary footnote to Messi’s profile as an early AI investor; if it fails, it’s just a small ripple in his $1.1 billion fortune. For him, the cost of experimentation has always been low.

So don’t rush to call him "the king of football crowned in investing," and don’t hastily dismiss it as "amateurs meddling." The truth usually lies in the middle—a smart athlete teamed up with smart people to bet on a smart sector. As for the outcome, let time decide.

Legends grow old, but opportunities are always new. This second half has only just begun.

As for whether you can win?

Hey, even Messi himself might not know. He just knows that standing still means losing.

Reference materials

1. Investment Daily (PEdaily): "Messi Invests in Li Fei-Fei's World Labs," July 2026
2. Forbes: “World Model Startups Raise $3 Billion As VCs Bet Beyond LLMs,” June 30, 2026
3. 36Kr: "Lionel Messi Invests in AI Startup Backed by Stanford Professor Fei-Fei Li," 2026
4. WIRED: "Messi and Ronaldo Are Building Tech Portfolios. Mo Salah Is Playing a Different Game"
5. AI Market Watch: World Labs, Founded by Fei-Fei Li, Raises $1 Billion at a $5 Billion Valuation
6. andrew.ooo: "General Intuition vs Genie 3 vs Cosmos: Spatial AI 2026," June 2026
7. PitchBook: Play Time Investment and Transaction Data
8. Forbes: Messi's Personal Net Worth and Annual Income Statistics, June 2026