Jim Kavanaugh never became a global soccer icon like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Unlike Messi and Ronaldo, one of whom still graces our screens on the World Cup stage, Kavanaugh’s playing days ended decades ago. But the former U.S. national team player does share one distinction with the two soccer superstars: They’re all billionaires.

Six years after representing the United States during the 1984 Summer Olympics, Kavanaugh traded the soccer pitch for the boardroom and co-founded World Wide Technology, a Missouri-based technology giant that generates $20 billion in annual revenue as of 2025. Like the two soccer players, the 63-year-old said he like many other entrepreneurs are able to build a successful business because they share the same qualities that separate elite athletes from the rest: a willingness to outwork the competition.

“If you want to be great—you can’t put in an average or sub-average level of input and work ethic,” Kavanaugh told Fortune.

“If you’re willing to put the time and the effort in and you have the desire to continue to learn, and you apply that in areas that you actually enjoy doing— the odds and the probability of you being successful is very good,” he added.

For Kavanaugh, though, talent alone has never been enough. The people who ultimately succeed are the ones who continue pushing through setbacks while making everyone around them better. That, he argued, is where leadership comes in—and why he sees two different approaches between Messi’s and Ronaldo’s success.

“From a values perspective and a team orientation, I feel like Messi brings the best out of Argentina,” Kavanaugh said. “I’m not sure that Ronaldo does the same for his team and country, but that actually takes it to the importance of leadership: there’s all different ways—some leaders are very vocal, some lead by example.”

Kavanaugh believes Messi embodies the latter: someone who inspires rather than commands. He believes the Argentine captain motivates teammates through his actions—a leadership style that helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup and make another deep run at this year’s tournament. Basically, talk is cheap.

“I think leadership is, especially in business and in sport, it is something that is very powerful when it’s done the right way,” Kavanaugh said. “It can really move people and organizations and companies in a very, very positive way.”

Rejection helped turn Kavanaugh into a soccer Olympian—and a billionaire businessman

Though  Kavanaugh today boasts a net worth of $7.7 billion and is part owner of St. Louis’s Major League Soccer Club, his success was far from guaranteed.