Ever heard of the Romanian former tennis player who is worth £1.5billion? How about the Danish dressage rider who competed at two Olympic Games and is the world’s 2263rd richest person, according to Forbes?
These are just two of sport’s little known billionaires – stars who have participated at the highest level and are now worth well into nine figures.
It’s an exclusive club, and one that also includes a tennis heiress and the nephew of the Sultan of Brunei, both of whom stand to inherit unimaginable wealth.
Daily Star Sport has taken a look at five of sport’s unknown billionaires, starting with the man we first mentioned right at the top.
Ion Tiriac
(Image: (Photo by David Aliaga/MB Media/Getty Images))
Ask 100 people to name the richest tennis player in the world, past or present, and chances are they’d come back with a list that includes Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
The correct answer is in fact Ion Tiriac. He might not boast the same amount of Grand Slam titles of the aforementioned trio, indeed his best performance was a quarter-final defeat in the 1968 French Open, but he’s worth a hell of a lot of money.
So much money in fact that his net worth – a cool £1.5billion, making him Romania’s first billionaire in 2007 – is over seven times that of Djokovic alone.
While he first made his name on the tennis court, the 83-year-old amassed his fortune outside the world of sports, towards the end of the Cold War.
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Taking advantage of fading communism on his homeland, Tiriac set up the country’s first privately-owned bank, which became a huge financial success. Under Tiriac Holdings Ltd, he has since branched out into retail, insurance and airline businesses.
As well as his own private jet, Tiriac is also believed to be a great lover of cars, and he is said to be the only person in the world who has not one, but two Rolls-Royce Phantom IVs among his collection.
Anna Kasprzak
Anna Kasprzak is a 33-year-old Danish dressage rider who competed for her country at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing fourth in London in the team competition.
Impressive, but not the sort of pursuit that makes you a billionaire. For that, Kasprzak has Danish shoe manufacturer, ECCO, to thank.
Kasprzak, along with her brother Andre and mother Hanni, owns the $1.46 billion footwear firm. According to the company’s website, she is a member of the supervisory board.
ECCO’s products are sold in 90 countries around the world from more than 2,200 shops, while they also have a big online presence.
Despite her incredible wealth, Kasprzak has forged an impressive career for herself in the world of dressage and operates a private barn in Haderslev, Denmark.
Mukesh Ambani
(Image: Getty Images)
Unlike the rest of the names on this diamond-studded list, Mukesh Ambana has never played sport to a professional level. But we thought it only right to include him for his involvement in the IPL.
Ambana, 64, is India’s richest man and chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited, which owns Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians.
He was listed as the 11th richest person on the planet in 2021 with a net worth of £62billion, and Forbes say that number has increased by 130 per cent in the last year, pushing him to near the top of the list.
Jessica Pegula
(Image: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Tennis star Jessica Pegula has flown through the tennis rankings in recent years, is up to third in the world and had five Grand Slam quarter-finals to her name. It means she has almost £7million in earnings.
That might seem like a nice payday for most sports stars, but it’s small change to Pegula, whose father Terry is worth £4.3billion.
Although Jessica isn’t a billionaire in her own right just yet, she one day stands to inherit a slice of her father’s vast fortune.
Terry, a self-made businessman, earned his money from natural gas development and is the proud owner of NFL side Buffalo Bills.
He saw off competition from the likes of Donald Trump and Bon Jovi to purchase the Bills, who are now regulars in the post-season.
With such incredible wealth to fall back on, Jessica could’ve been forgiven for taking her eye off the ball when it comes to tennis.
Yet she maintains a huge passion for the game and is on her way to claiming the world No.1 spot at some stage of her career.
In 2021, she told Wide World of Sport that rather than shun her fortune background, she embraced – an approach that has reaped benefits this season.
“When I was younger, it was more like I wanted to make a name for myself and then I realised as I got older, I should embrace the whole family aspect of it instead”, she said.
“It was almost hurting me in a way because it wasn’t going to go away and I learned to embrace that, kind of have fun with it.”
Faiq Bolkiah
(Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Like Pegula, Faiq Bolkiah isn’t technically a billionaire in his own right. But the former Chelsea and Leicester academy star holds the distinction of being the richest footballer in the world.
That’s because Bolkiah is the nephew of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah – who is worth $17.5billion (£13billion) – which is even more than Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
Despite his incredible background, the 24-year-old only ever wanted to make it as a professional footballer, a dream that has in fact now been realised.
(Image: fjefrib/Instagram)
Bolkiah now plays in the top league of Thailand with Chonburi, following unsuccessful spells with Southampton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Leicester City, as well a period in Portugal for Maritimo.
If football doesn’t end up working out for the Brunei international, at least he won’t be short of a few bob when he finally retires.
His father, Prince Jefri, is known as something as a ‘Playboy Prince’ and once spent £12.5million on Michael Jackson to play at his 50th birthday party.
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