As he carries out the final years of a successful football career, Andrés Iniesta prepares for the day after hanging up his boots and continues to build an economic empire with his businesses outside the world of football. The Spaniard, who plays for Vissel Kobe in Japan , was the scorer of the goal that gave his team the title in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and became an icon of Barcelona's most successful years, running a number of companies that place him in the top ten of the footballers with the highest earnings on the planet.
The 37-year-old Spanish midfielder left the culé team in 2018, where he won everything and was one of Lionel Messi's partners in a golden era. He emigrated to Japanese soccer to play for Vissel Kobe, with whom he has just renewed his contract until 2023 for $30 million.
According to Forbes, that amount would be around 90 percent of his income in 2021. The rest of his earnings come from sponsorships with brands such as Asics or Nissan, and from his business beyond football. The quoted media affirms that Iniesta's fortune is 35 million dollars, which places him in seventh position on the list of the highest paid footballers in the world.
The Spaniard is known as the "Brain" for his ability to generate the game and assist his teammates. But he also shows it off the field. His arrival in the nation of the rising sun was to live the last years of his career in a league without the pressures of the European arena, but also to continue building his future.
He is the main image of Rakuten, a company that has been the main sponsor of Barcelona since his last time at the club. This firm was founded by Hiroshi Mikitani , who in turn is the president of Vissel Kobe, and also a business partner of Gerard Piqué, Iniesta's former teammate, who evidently prepared the ground since his last years at Barça.
The connection with Mikitani was key to expanding one of the main areas that the midfielder aimed at, his line of wines called Bodegas Iniesta. The Asian businessman took over part of the production of the wineries, whose wines, of Spanish origin, had a good response in Japan. So much so that, in March 2021, his Corazón Loco Selección wine received the double gold medal, one of the most important prizes at the SAKURA Japan Women's Wine Awards.
But the Iniesta empire expanded and reached other areas such as real estate and shoes. The first is a family business where, according to the latest data available from the Mercantile Registry, in 2018, the company had assets of USD 42 million (and invoiced USD 11.2 million).
But the clinical eye took him to another area. After being the image of Nike (Barcelona's clothing brand) for several years, he replaced him with a contract with Asics when he arrived in Japan. He got to know that industry and decided to set up a business with his partner, Anna Ortiz: they launched Mikakus, their own brand of sneakers.
“Years ago I had in my head to make something out of sneakers. Mikakus emerged, the firm was consolidated, Anna joined the team and we worked together at the image level and she also in the product department. For now I don't design”, assured the soccer player to Vanity Fair magazine. Mikakus, a brand belonging to the Pukmal Items Limited Company, closed the 2019 financial year with a turnover of USD 675 thousand .
Sometimes the debate resurfaces as to how soccer players go on with their lives once they hang up their boots. What tools and possibilities do they have? Although Iniesta is an elite athlete, years before retiring he began to put together the game, as he did many years on the pitch.
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