Wimbledon star who only reached fourth round is billionaire worth four times Ronaldo
A Romanian billionaire who represented his country at both tennis and ice hockey is worth more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined
A Wimbledon star who the majority of sports fans won’t have heard of is a billionaire worth more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Former Romanian tennis player Ion Tiriac has amassed colossal wealth since retiring from the sport back in 1979.
The sporting all-rounder had a modest tennis career, which saw him go no further than the fourth round at Wimbledon. His best performance in a Grand Slam was at the 1968 French Open, where he reached the last eight. Tiriac tasted glory in doubles though, winning the Roland Garros title in 1970.
He also played for his country in three Davis Cup finals. Away from tennis, Tiriac was an accomplished ice hockey player, representing his country at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Tokyo.
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After retiring from top-level sport, Tiriac, now 85, went into coaching, working with the likes of Boris Becker, Guillermo Vilas and Marat Safin. But it has been away from sport where he has enjoyed his biggest successes.
Tiriac began an investment career following the fall of communism in Romania, eventually founding the Tiriac Group, which has assets in property, the automobile industry and financial services, among other sectors.
That has led to Tiriac building up an estimated net worth of £1.6billion, according to Forbes. That’s almost four times more than Ronaldo, who is worth an estimated £450million thanks partly to the £170million a year he is paid by Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.
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In fact, Tiriac is worth more than Ronaldo and fellow footballing great Lionel Messi, worth an estimated £500million, combined. Naturally, given his riches, the Romanian is able to enjoy the finer things in life.
The Bucharest-based billionaire is said to own a car and motorcycle collection containing more than 400 models, including vehicles formerly owned by Al Capone, Sammy Davis Jr and Elton John. He remains in touch with tennis though and was pictured watching the French Open at Roland Garros in June.
