Life After Football: How Retired Players Built Businesses (Beckham, Ronaldo Nazário, Piqué)
Short answer: Retired footballers who built businesses include David Beckham, whose Inter Miami CF is estimated at $1.45bn and who is valued with Victoria Beckham at £1.185bn by the Sunday Times Rich List 2026. Ronaldo Nazário bought and sold Cruzeiro and Real Valladolid, and Gerard Piqué runs Kosmos, FC Andorra and the Kings League.
Key Takeaways
- Beckham’s Inter Miami Bet: David Beckham turned the MLS expansion option in his 2007 LA Galaxy contract into Inter Miami CF, now estimated at $1.45bn. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 values him and Victoria Beckham jointly at £1.185bn.
- Ronaldo Nazário’s Club Deals: Ronaldo Nazário bought 90% of Cruzeiro for R$400m in 2021 and sold it for a reported R$600m (about $117m) in 2024. He then sold his majority stake in Real Valladolid in 2025.
- Piqué’s Kosmos: Gerard Piqué‘s Kosmos owns FC Andorra, and he founded the Kings League in 2022. Kosmos’s 25-year, $3bn Davis Cup partnership ended in January 2023.
- The Flamini Myth: Mathieu Flamini‘s company GF Biochemicals is real, but the billionaire claims about him are not. He denied them himself in 2018.
When professional footballers hang up their boots, traditional wisdom used to dictate a predictable retirement path: open a local pub, transition into television punditry, or take up a high-stress managerial role in the lower leagues. While many still pursue those avenues, a select group of entrepreneurial football icons have broken the post-career stereotype.
Armed with global personal brands, high-profile networks and substantial career earnings, some retired footballers have built real businesses. They have founded biochemical companies, bought and sold football clubs, launched new competitions and taken stakes in the teams they once played for.
As detailed in our study on the wealthiest football club owners in the world, private capital and elite football are now closely intertwined. Below we look at what some of the best-known retired players have built, using only facts from named sources. We do not rank them by net worth. Apart from David Beckham, none of them has a recent published valuation, and the “net worth” figures that circulate online are usually unsourced.
Which retired footballers built businesses after football?
The table below lists seven retired players and the businesses they built or bought after football. It is not a wealth ranking. The last column shows the key figure we could source for each, and its date.
| # | Player | Main Business After Football | Key Facts | Playing Career Peak | Key Sourced Figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Beckham | Inter Miami CF (co-owner) | MLS expansion option from his 2007 LA Galaxy contract | Man Utd / Real Madrid | £1.185bn with Victoria (Sunday Times, 2026); club est. $1.45bn |
| 2 | Ronaldo Nazário | Club ownership (Cruzeiro, Real Valladolid) | Bought and sold Cruzeiro (2021–24) and Real Valladolid (2018–25) | Inter / Real Madrid / Brazil | Cruzeiro sold for a reported R$600m (~$117m, 2024) |
| 3 | Gerard Piqué | Kosmos Holding | FC Andorra (since 2018), Kings League (founded 2022) | FC Barcelona / Spain | $3bn, 25-year Davis Cup deal (2018; ended 2023) |
| 4 | Mathieu Flamini | GF Biochemicals (co-founder) | Levulinic acid producer; private company | Arsenal / AC Milan | No published valuation |
| 5 | Dave Whelan | JJB Sports & Wigan Athletic | Bought the JJ Bradburns shop in 1971; sold his last JJB stake in 2007 | Blackburn Rovers | £190m (Sunday Times, 2011) |
| 6 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Hammarby IF stake; RedBird / AC Milan | Senior adviser to Milan’s owner RedBird since December 2023 | PSG / AC Milan / Man Utd | 23.5% of Hammarby (2019) |
| 7 | Andrés Iniesta | Albacete investment; NSN cycling team; coaching | Head coach of Gulf United (UAE) since June 2026 | FC Barcelona / Spain | €420,000 invested in Albacete (2011) |
How did retired footballers build their businesses?
1. David Beckham: From an MLS Option to Inter Miami
When David Beckham left Real Madrid for the LA Galaxy in 2007, his contract included an option to buy a future MLS expansion franchise. That option became Inter Miami CF, which Beckham co-owns.
After the signing of Lionel Messi, Inter Miami is estimated at $1.45bn (£1.07bn), the most valuable club in MLS. The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 valued the Beckhams’ joint fortune at £1.185bn, up from £500m a year earlier, and its coverage highlighted his Inter Miami stake. That made Sir David Britain’s first billionaire sportsman. The figure covers David and Victoria together.
2. Ronaldo Nazário: Buying and Selling Clubs
Two-time World Cup champion Ronaldo Nazário moved straight into club ownership. In 2018 he bought a 51% stake in Spanish club Real Valladolid for about €30 million. After the club finished bottom of La Liga in 2024/25, he agreed in May 2025 to sell his majority stake. A group led by Mexican businessman Gabriel Solares, Grupo Ignite, took over in August 2025.
In December 2021 he bought 90% of his former club Cruzeiro in Brazil for R$400 million (about $70–78 million), taking on around R$1 billion of club debt. In April 2024 he sold that stake to supermarket owner Pedro Lourenço for a reported R$600 million (about $117 million). The price was reported by local press rather than officially disclosed, and his net profit after debts and investment is not public.
3. Gerard Piqué: Kosmos, FC Andorra and the Kings League
Gerard Piqué founded and presides over Kosmos Holding, whose backers include Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani. In 2018 Kosmos signed a 25-year partnership with the International Tennis Federation, described as worth $3 billion, to overhaul the Davis Cup. The ITF ended that partnership in January 2023. Kosmos also bought FC Andorra in December 2018. In May 2024 a Spanish court placed Piqué under investigation over the deal that moved the Supercopa de España to Saudi Arabia.
In November 2022, days after his final game for FC Barcelona, Piqué founded the Kings League, a fast-paced seven-a-side competition streamed live with game-style rules. Its 2023 Final Four was staged at Barcelona’s Camp Nou, and it has since expanded with leagues in Italy, France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil and the Middle East and North Africa.
4. Mathieu Flamini: GF Biochemicals
While still an Arsenal player, Mathieu Flamini co-founded GF Biochemicals, described as the first company in the world able to mass-produce levulinic acid, a plant-based chemical that can replace some petroleum-based ingredients.
Reports that this made him a billionaire are false. In 2018 he told L’Équipe that he does not have €30 billion in his bank account and that the figure was not the value of his company. He said it was the size of the market GF Biochemicals wanted to enter. Asked if he was a billionaire, he said: “Oh no, not at all.” The company is private and has not published a valuation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who is the richest retired football player in the world?
No published source ranks all retired players. Of those with a recent valuation, David Beckham is the richest: the Sunday Times Rich List 2026 valued him and Victoria Beckham jointly at £1.185 billion (about $1.6 billion).
Is Mathieu Flamini a billionaire?
No published figure supports that. Flamini co-founded GF Biochemicals, a levulinic acid producer, while playing for Arsenal. In 2018 he told L’Équipe he is “not at all” a billionaire. He said the €30 billion figure quoted online was the size of the market, not his wealth or his company’s value.
How much is David Beckham worth?
The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 valued David and Victoria Beckham together at £1.185 billion (about $1.6 billion), up from £500 million in 2025. The list does not split the figure between them. Beckham co-owns MLS club Inter Miami CF, estimated at $1.45 billion.
Does Ronaldo Nazário still own Real Valladolid?
No. He bought 51% of Real Valladolid in 2018 for about €30 million and agreed to sell his majority stake in May 2025. Grupo Ignite, led by Gabriel Solares, took over in August 2025. He sold his 90% stake in Brazilian club Cruzeiro to Pedro Lourenço in April 2024 for a reported R$600 million (about $117 million).
What business does Gerard Piqué run?
Gerard Piqué founded and presides over Kosmos Holding, which bought Spanish club FC Andorra in December 2018, and he founded the Kings League in November 2022. Kosmos’s 25-year Davis Cup partnership with the ITF, described as worth $3 billion, ended in January 2023.
Sources & Method
Every figure in this article comes from a named source below, and its year is given in the text. We made no estimates of our own. The Beckham figure is the Sunday Times Rich List 2026 valuation of David and Victoria Beckham together. The Inter Miami value was reported alongside that list in May 2026. Dave Whelan’s £190m is the Sunday Times figure from 2011, the latest we found. Club sale prices are as reported in the press where the parties did not disclose them. We do not give net worths for the other players because no reliable published estimate exists.
- ESPN: Sunday Times Rich List 2026 (15 May 2026) — Beckhams £1.185bn; Inter Miami $1.45bn.
- City AM: Sunday Times Rich List 2025 sport — Beckhams £500m in 2025.
- Inside World Football: Ronaldo ends spell as Valladolid owner (27 May 2025) — 51% for about €30m in 2018; 2025 sale.
- Mediotiempo: Gabriel Solares now owns Real Valladolid (4 August 2025) — Grupo Ignite takeover.
- ABC Color: Ronaldo sells Cruzeiro (30 April 2024) — R$400m purchase (2021), reported R$600m sale (2024).
- Wikipedia: Gerard Piqué — Kosmos, Davis Cup deal and its end, FC Andorra, Supercopa investigation.
- Wikipedia: Kings League — founding date, Camp Nou Final Four, international leagues.
- Stadium Astro: Flamini – “I don’t have €30billion in my bank account” (L’Équipe interview, 2018)
- Wikipedia: Mathieu Flamini — GF Biochemicals and levulinic acid.
- Wikipedia: Dave Whelan and City AM: Sunday Times sport rich list 2011 — JJB history; £190m (2011).
- Wikipedia: Zlatan Ibrahimović and Wikipedia: Andrés Iniesta — Hammarby stake, RedBird role; Albacete investment, coaching.
