Many fans believe that contemporary legends such as Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic are the richest tennis players in the world. But former player ion Tiriac is the tennis player with the largest value of assets.
According to Forbes, Djokovic has assets worth 189.3 million pounds, while Federer is 453 million pounds. These figures are far behind Tiriac when he has assets of 1.6 billion pounds (2 billion USD), double the value of the two legends combined.
Federer retired in 2022. He is partly rich thanks to bonuses, estimated at around £102.4 million ($30 million), in addition to a series of long-term sponsorship and advertising contracts with big names such as Kia, Nike, Lanvin Colognes, Quely, Poker Stars and emporio Armani.
Djokovic is still playing tennis at the age of 37. He has accumulated a bonus of £ 140 million. Contracts with major brands such as Adidas, Lacoste, Mercedes-Benz and Seiko also help him pocket large sums of money each year.
For his part, Tiriac earns most of his money thanks to his acumen in business. He established his own bank in Romania.
Currently, at the age of 85, he is the head of Tiriac Group, with shares in the real estate, automobile, financial services and many other sectors. After retiring in the 1970s, Tiriac became a coach, working with some of the top athletes such as primeval Vilas, Marat Safin and Boris Becker.
He began his investment career in the 1980s. His wealth is clearly demonstrated through the collection of cars and motorbikes with more than 400 models.
In 2021, he built a house called "Tiriac Collection" to display luxury cars. It is known that after receiving great attention, Tiriac has operated this house as a small museum, where people can visit. Here, limited edition cars and super rare models of major brands are gathered, many of which were produced in the last century.
In his professional tennis career, Tiriac has won 34 singles titles. His best finish in a major tournament was the French Open 1968, quarter-finals.
In the doubles event, the Romania player performed better. He won the men's doubles championship at the French Open in 1970 and reached the final of the US Open 1970. In the same year, he also reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon with compatriot Ilie Nastase.
