Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, better known as Neymar Jr. or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian football icon widely counted among the greatest of the game in the modern era. Neymar is also one of the richest footballers in the world with a net worth of USD 95 million, as per Forbes’ list of the highest-paid athletes of 2022.

As a forward, Neymar is one of the most prolific attackers for his club and country in the sport. He was acquired by Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) from La Liga club Barcelona in 2017 for USD 263 million — the highest-ever transfer fee for any footballer in history.

A look at Neymar’s achievements with club and countryNeymar and the Brazil national team squad during a practice session at 2022 FIFA World Cup. (Image: Courtesy of NJ/@neymarjr/Instagram)

Due to his outstanding ability to find gaps in opposition defences, Neymar Santos Jr. has become one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time. He is one of the only three footballers after Brazilian legend Romario and Portuguese great Cristiano Ronaldo to have scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs.

His talent has helped his clubs and the national team win several championships over the years.

The star footballer made his debut at the age of 17 in 2009 for Santos, a major team in the Brazilian top tier known as Campeonato Paulista. Due to him, the club won its only ever Recopa Sudamericana and Copa do Brasil trophies. He was also instrumental in the club’s Copa Libertadores win for the first time since the 1960s and two of its Campeonato Paulista league championships.

Besides his success at Santos, Neymar won a FIFA Club World Cup, a UEFA Champions League cup, two La Liga championships, one UEFA Super Cup and three Spanish Cup trophies with Barcelona. He has also won four Ligue 1 titles, three French Cup trophies and four French Super Cup championships with PSG.

For the Brazilian national team, Neymar brought home the Confederations Cup in 2013 and the Olympic Gold medal at Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. He has also played for the team at FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 2022 edition held in Qatar.

The Barcelona transfer caseImage: Courtesy of FC Barcelona/@FCBarcelona/Twitter

Neymar signed up with Barcelona in 2013 before moving to France to play for PSG in 2017. While both his football contracts have been in the news, they have been for completely different reasons. The PSG transfer was a record-setter, but the transfer from Santos to Barcelona landed the footballer in trouble.

In October 2022, Neymar and eight others, including his parents, went on trial in Barcelona for fraud and corruption charges connected to the transfer. While Barcelona maintained that the transfer cost of USD 55.3 million, prosecutors alleged that it was worth USD 80.5 million and sought a two-year jail term and impose a fine of USD 10 million on Neymar.

The transfer became part of an investigation in 2015 after Brazilian investment firm DIS formally complained that it had lost part of its rightful cut as it owned 40 percent of Neymar’s economic rights during his time at Santos.

However, prosecutors dropped all criminal charges against Neymar and others, allowing the court to acquit everyone in the case.

One of the world’s highest-paid athletesThe Brazilian footballer poses with Puma shoes. (Image: Courtesy of NJ/@neymarjr/Instagram)

Neymar is the world’s fourth highest-paid athlete as per the Forbes list of 2022, behind Ronaldo and Argentine legend Lionel Messi.

Interestingly, Neymar has been playing football with Messi in PSG and was also with the Argentine at Barcelona.

Forbes estimates that Neymar’s net worth includes USD 70 million from his PSG salary and bonuses on the field during the 12-month period between 1 May 2021 and 1 May 2022.

His off-field earnings were an estimated USD 25 million, primarily from his endorsements for Puma and Red Bull. During this period, he was also the subject of the Netflix documentary Neymar: The Perfect Chaos, which was released on 25 January 2022.

The Sun reported in 2018 that Neymar was the world’s most branded footballer at the time with 35 endorsements that included the likes of Nike, Qatar National Bank and Beats. Accordingly, at the time his number was perhaps higher than even Ronaldo and Messi’s endorsements.

Nike ended its deal with Neymar in August 2020. A year later, the company said that it decided to terminate the deal after the footballer refused to cooperate with an investigation connected to an alleged sexual assault on a Nike employee by Neymar in 2016. Neymar has denied the charge.

Outside of football, Neymar is involved with his charitable organisation, Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr., which works with economically weak, less educated, crime- or drug-affected families in Praia Grande to help bring a positive change in their lives.

Expensive things Neymar owns

Luxury yacht

Neymar holidaying with friends on a yacht in August 2021. (Image: Courtesy of NJ/@neymarjr/Instagram)

In 2012, when he was still playing for Santos, Neymar bought a second-hand yacht costing around USD 8 million.

Named after his mother, Nadine, the yacht reportedly is an Azimut 78-type vessel. Measuring 25 metres in length, the yacht has three or four suites and at least one living room. It has plush interiors and comfy sofas for a completely luxurious boating experience on the seas like Neymar would prefer.

When he bought the yacht, Forbes reported that the yacht required a maintenance expenditure of USD 120,000 every year and would lose value at the rate of 5-10 percent annually.

Thus, when four years later, a Brazilian court ordered the seizure of around USD 42 million of his assets, including his yacht and private jet, in a tax evasion case, some reports said that the value of the yacht was around USD 4 million.

Private jet

Neymar strikes a pose with his Embraer Phenom 100 private jet. (Image: Courtesy of Neymar Jr/@neymarjr/Twitter)

Neymar, his girlfriend Bruno Biancardi and his sister Rafaella Santos had a close escape when the aircraft they were flying in had to make an emergency landing in the Brazilian city of Boa Vista. Following the incident, the footballer’s agency said in a statement that the aircraft had developed a “small problem in the windshield wiper.”

The jet, a Cessna Citation Sovereign (Model 680), is owned by his agency, Neymar Sport E Marketing, and is worth around USD 17.5 million. Some reports suggest that the private aircraft was bought in 2016.

The Brazilian footballer reportedly also owned another private aircraft — a Phenom 100 by Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer. Neymar also posted a picture of him sitting on the airstair of the jet in June 2015. The picture shows his initials “NJR” on the tail of the small business aircraft capable of seating six. The word “Power” was also emblazoned on the body.

It is not clear what happened to the aircraft, but it was one of the assets that the court had ordered to be seized in connection to the tax evasion case. The price of this aircraft was reportedly around USD 4 million.

Airbus H145

The PSG star with his Airbus H145 in the background. (Image: Courtesy of NJ/@neymarjr/Instagram)

Besides his private plane, Neymar also has a personal Airbus H145 helicopter, which he got custom-designed to make it appear like, what reports suggest, a Batcopter — the helicopter that is one of the many machines that Batman has been seen using in the comic books, animated series and movies.

According to The Daily Mirror, Neymar is believed to be a huge fan of DC Comics. He has especially dressed up as the Dark Knight at some parties. Several reports suggest that Neymar’s Airbus H145 has interior styling by Mercedes-Benz.

Interestingly, Airbus had, in 2015, launched an exclusive VIP version of the aircraft with Mercedes-Benz for high-end private and corporate operations.

The chopper was first seen when Neymar and his fellow Brazil national team players Richarlison, Ederson and Fernandinho arrived in it for practice ahead of the Copa America 2019. In July 2021, Neymar shared a picture of himself posing with the chopper. The aircraft reportedly cost Neymar around USD 13 million.

A general H145 is a four-tonne, twin-engine rotorcraft which can carry up to 10 passengers and two pilots in a higher-density configuration. It has a range of around 650 km and a maximum speed of 260 km/h. According to Airbus, the helicopter incurs low-maintenance costs and has a high in-service time.

Primarily used for civilian purposes, such as air ambulance roles and local law enforcement duties, in several countries, military variants of the aircraft are in the fleet of Royal Thai Army, German Air Force and Royal Air Force, among others.

Ferrari and Maserati

A Maserati MC12 in blue-and-white colours on the road. (Image: Courtesy of Alexandre Prévot from Nancy, France – Maserati MC12 Uploaded by High Contrast/CC BY-SA 2.0/Wikimedia Commons)

Private aircraft and helicopters aside, Neymar has a number of cars to fuel his passion for speed and desire for extravagance. Though the PSG striker doesn’t seem to have as many numbers in his garages as Portuguese great Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar’s cars are certainly among the most sought-after and costliest machines.

The highlight in his fleet is a Ferrari 458 Italia, one of the finest automobiles to have ever been produced and one that is also owned by prominent celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Floyd Mayweather and Rihanna. The car reportedly cost Neymar somewhere above USD 200,000. Powered by a 4.5-litre V8 engine, the car has a top speed of 337 km/h. Reports suggest that the car appears to be Neymar’s favourite, as he has often been seen driving it.

Neymar also has a Maserati MC12, only 50 units of which exist in the world. ‘Stradale,’ as the car’s road-going version is known, has a top speed of over 330 km/h. Produced in the early 2000s, the car was at the time priced at around USD 750,000. Since only 50 were ever made, its resale value today is in millions.

In 2019, Sotheby’s had a 2005 model MC12 on its auction lot. Though the car went unsold, it was expected to fetch between USD 2.6 and USD 3.5 million.

Three Audis

A promotional picture shows a white Audi R8 Spyder. (Image: Courtesy of Audi)

The Sun reports that Neymar has three Audi cars — Audi RS7, Audi Q7 and Audi R8 Spyder. He has been previously seen driving a blue RS7 to the training ground when he was with Barcelona — a club that Audi sponsored until 2019.

It is not clear when Neymar bought the cars, but two of them — RS7 and R8 Spyder — are quite expensive.

The 2023 RS7 models are fitted with an 8-speed V8 twin-turbo engine which can take the car from 0 to 96 km/h in 3.2 seconds. Reports suggest that the price of the car is around USD 120,000.

The latest edition R8 Spyder costs around USD 200,000. It comes with a naturally aspirated V10 engine and can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds.

The Q7 is a seven-seater luxury SUV. The price of the 2023 model of the car is around USD 90,000.