Eleven sportsmen who are winning at business

As a tennis player the Brasov Bulldozer enjoyed a successful but hardly stratospheric career, winning the French Open Doubles in 1970 and reaching a highest singles ranking of eight. As a businessman, however, Tiriac has amassed a fortune that would make Roger Federer spit coffee on his cardigan. After numerous investments and business innovations – he was the first coach to offer ‘portfolio management’ to his players – Tiriac founded Banca Tiriac in 1990, the first private bank of post-communist Romania. Today he’s the richest man in Romania and the wealthiest former athlete alive, amassing a net worth of over $1bn. By way of comparison, the famously marketable Federer has a net worth of $140m. 

Big George Foreman fought in the most famous sporting event of all time, losing The Rumble in the Jungle to Muhammed Ali. He won the World Title in 1973 from Joe Frazier, lost the belt to Ali, and regained it 30 years later in 1994. The man is an icon of his sport. Yet, mention George Foreman to the non-boxing fan and they will most likely assume you’re offering them a cheese toastie. This is due to the ubiquity of the George Foreman Grill – full title: George Foreman’s Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine – that has sold over 100m units since 1994. Its success prompted Foreman to quit boxing in 1997; the grill accomplishing a feat beyond Ali, Frazier and countless others by banishing Big George from the ring forever.  

Sometimes, good investment can be a case of love, not money. Throughout his time at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson’s love of wine was almost as renowned as the notorious ‘hairdryer’ treatment. Favoured managers would be invited to share a post-match glass with Sir Alex, and many rivals, such as Jose Mourinho, made a point of supplying their own vintage in tribute. No passing hobby, Ferguson built a formidable collection over twenty years of travelling the globe: an auction of his cellar raised £2.2m in 2014. His foray into horse racing, however, proved less successful when a dispute over race horse Rock of Gibraltar nearly ended his time at the club.  

Legendary NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is a paid spokesperson for the pizza chain Papa John’s. So? Manning has endorsed everything from Gatorade to Nike, it’s hardly business acumen to swap a 30 second commercial for a wheelbarrow of cash… However, with the pizza chain Manning went a step further, buying Papa John’s stores around Denver in 2012. Later that same year Colorado Amendment 64 was passed, legalising the use of marijuana. Shares in the chain skyrocketed, as did Manning’s bank account - largely fuelled by the parallel rise of hungry stoners. In short, Peyton Manning made millions off the munchies. 

Swiss International footballer Ramon Vega is best known on these shores for his four year stint at Tottenham Hotspur in the late nineties. He retired in 2003 and, armed with a degree from the Zürich Business School, decided to try his hand at finance. £15m later, and it’s fair to say the career change has yielded dividends. His company Vega Swiss Asset Management is a major City player and he’s co-CEO of From Pitch To Boardroom, which uses football methodology to inspire corporate success.  

It’s a classic terrace chant, lustily bellowed by thousands of fans at their unfortunate target: “You’re sh*t, and you know you are!” Yet, the great Manchester City striker Francis Lee might take the accusation as a compliment. For Lee, playing in an era when a footballing career did not yield untold wealth, made his millions by founding F.H. Lee Ltd - a manufacturer of toilet roll. As a teenager Lee drove a lorry to collect wastepaper and spotted a market for quality toilet roll; on retirement he put his theory to the test and was handsomely rewarded, selling the business for £8.35m in 1984. It’s hard to see Cristiano Ronaldo following the same path. 

Many bankers enjoy a game of rugby in their spare time but far fewer rugby players swap the muddy pitch for the glass windows of the City. The example of Alex Snow might prompt a rethink. Once a sturdy lock for Harlequins, Snow moved into the Square Mile and swiftly established himself as something of a Jonah Lomu of banking: all power and thrusting endeavour. He co-founded stockbroking firm Evolution, eventually selling it for £220m. In 2013, Snow was named chief executive of European hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, managing nearly £9bn in assets. Certainly beats a broken nose and cauliflower ears.

It’s a strange statement about a man who came within a race of winning the Formula One World Championship in 1999 but Eddie Irvine was always an investor first, a racing driver second. Before embarking on his career in F1, Irvine was already a millionaire thanks to various property investments, displaying the same skill and bravado as he later would on the track. On retirement Irvine continued to build his portfolio. Today ‘Fast Eddie’ has an estimated net worth of £121m, which makes him the fourth wealthiest driver of all time and comfortably the richest driver never to win a World Championship.  

Oscar De La Hoya the boxer had it all: good looks, dazzling talent, and a fierce willingness to take on all comers. Yet, equally blessed fighters – from Joe Frazier to Mike Tyson – lost their fortune following retirement. For De La Hoya, boxing was merely a platform to build a second, bigger career outside the ropes. His company Golden Boy Promotions is arguably the most powerful in boxing today. As well as promoting numerous fighters, including Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, Golden Boy owns the Ring Magazine (known as ‘The Bible of Boxing’), a 25% share in MLS side Houston Dynamos and has seriously considered branching out into MMA. De La Hoya was a fine boxer, he’s an even better entrepreneur.    

Nobody has ever paid a penny for Mathieu Flamini: all three of his major transfers – Marseille to Arsenal, Arsenal to AC Milan, AC Milan to Arsenal – were Bosmans, i.e. free. Yet, aged 32, and with his best days firmly in the past, the defensive midfielder could be worth a cool £20bn thanks to his energy company GF Biochemicals. The company mass produces Levulinic Acid, a replacement for oil and a possible game changer for the energy industry. Suddenly £100m for Paul Pogba looks rather small change…