Post-career can sometimes be difficult for top athletes. However, this footballer has perfectly managed his money and made it grow.
Football is the most watched and most publicized sport in the world. It generates a lot of revenue, notably through television rights, sponsorship and the sale of jerseys and derivative products. As the main players in this football economy, players receive very high salaries from clubs, and a player like Kylian Mbappé can earn up to 72 million euros per year.
However, some players have seen the fortune they had amassed during their career melt away very quickly after their professional retirement. As in other sports and even beyond, the massive and rapid arrival of money in a person’s daily life can make some people’s heads spin, who then spend without counting and are not aware that this windfall can allow them to live the rest of their days.
This is not the case for Mathieu Flamini. Born in 1984, Flamini was trained at Olympique de Marseille, and made his professional debut there. He notably participated in the European epic in the UEFA Cup in 2004 alongside Didier Drogba. A player for Arsenal and AC Milan thereafter, he had three caps with the French team, and retired in 2019.
Now 40 years old, Mathieu Flamini began his career change many years ago. In 2008, he invested in a start-up specializing in biochemistry with one of his teammates at AC Milan. He then created GF-Biochemicals, which specializes in levulinic acid. This molecule could act as a substitute for oil in the manufacture of many petrochemical products.
While the levulinic acid market was non-existent in 2008, it is now booming, and this investment is bringing in big profits for the former OM and Arsenal player. According to the magazine “Challenge”, Mathieu Flamini has in fact been one of the 400 richest people in France since this year, with assets estimated at over 30 billion euros.
“As a child, I had two passions: football and sustainable development. That’s why we started moving in this direction in 2008. At the time I launched this project, my career was in full swing and it was impossible for me to fully take care of GF Biochimicals given that high-level sport requires total involvement,” says the former footballer. “We then decided to surround ourselves with engineers and researchers to advance this project, while developing partnerships with universities that are experts in the field of Renewable Chemistry,” explained the former player.