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At 19 years old, most of us weighed more than our checking account balance. If I had enough weekend spending money for a couple Colt 45 40 ounces and a Chipotle burrito (sans guac), I’d feel like a goddamn Rockefeller. Sadly, that was rarely the case.
Kylian Mbappe is in a slightly different financial situation.
The 19-year-old prodigy scored four goals this World Cup and became just the second teenager to score in a World Cup final since Brazil’s Pele achieved it as a 17-year-old in 1958.
Even before Mbappe was a central figure in helping France capture its second World Cup title, many believed that the Paris Saint-Germain forward was the heir apparent to Messi and Ronaldo, a cant-miss shoe-in to become the Ballon d’Or podium winner in a few short years.
He is also already very rich.
Paris Saint-Germain inked the young talent to a contract through 2022 after poaching him for €180 million plus bonuses from Monaco, putting the contract only behind PSG’s €222m signing of Neymar from Barcelona months before. In the World Cup alone, Sports Illustrated reported that Mbappe earns about £17,000 (about $22,400) per game with bonuses, as well as a £265,000 (approx. $350,000) bonus if France won the tournament.
Well, French newspaper L’Equipe reported Monday that Mbappe had already informed the charity Premiers de Cordée back in April that he planned to donate his paycheck to the organization. The charity gives free sports instruction to hospitalized and disabled children and coordinates disability awareness campaigns for schools and businesses.
Said Sebastien Ruffin, general manager of Premiers de Cordee:
“Kylian, he’s a great person. When his schedule allows it, he intervenes for us with pleasure. He has a very good [relationship] with children, he always finds the right [words] to encourage them. I sometimes even feel that [he] takes more pleasure to play with the kids than the kids themselves.”
Sounds like a good young man to me.