The post-career life can sometimes be difficult for top athletes. However, this footballer knew how to manage his money perfectly and make it grow.
Football is the most followed and most publicized sport worldwide. It generates a lot of revenue through television rights, sponsorship and the sale of jerseys and derivative products. As the main players in this football economy, players receive very significant salaries from clubs, and a player like Kylian Mbappé can receive up to 72 million euros per year.
However, some players saw the fortune they had amassed during their career disappear 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 the heads of some people spin, who then spend without counting and are not aware that this windfall can allow them to live the rest of their lives.
This is not the case for Mathieu Flamini. Born in 1984, Flamini 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. Player of Arsenal and AC Milan subsequently, he has three selections with the French team, and retired in 2019.
Now aged 40, Mathieu Flamini began his professional reconversion 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 petroleum 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 paying off big for the former OM and Arsenal player. According to the magazine “Challenge”, Mathieu Flamini has been one of the 400 richest people in France since this year, with assets estimated at more than 30 billion euros.
“As a child, I had two passions: football and sustainable development. This is why we started moving in this direction in 2008. At the time when I launched this project, my career was in full swing and it m “It’s impossible to fully take care of GF Biochemicals 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 with expertise in the field of Renewable Chemistry,” explained the former player.