Former French footballer surpasses Ronaldo’s net worth by 40 times

PARIS (Agencies): Cristiano Ronaldo, who is arguably the most recognised and probably the richest player in the sports, has been surpassed in his net worth by a comparatively unfamiliar name — France’s ex-footballer Mathieu Flamini to be precise. Although there’s no comparison between Ronaldo’s career achievements and that of Flamini, who merely has two FA Cup victories and one Serie A title to his name, the fact that the French footballer has left behind the Portuguese star in net worth is an intriguing tale for sure. Despite trailing far behind Ronaldo on the football pitch, the French midfielder has instead enjoyed resounding success with his business venture. The foundations for Flamini’s financial success were laid while at AC Milan when the former midfielder and his economics graduate business partner, Pasquale Granata, established the company “GF Biochemicals” to influence the energy industry. The former Arsenal player went on to play for Crystal Palace and Getafe before retiring in 2019 at the age of 39.

By that point, he had invested millions into his company with the goal of producing levulinic acid, a synthetic oil substitute made from wood and corn waste. In 2015, the company became the first in the world to mass-produce the acid, which can replace oil in various material manufacturing processes. Flamini’s contribution as the former French midfielder earned him recognition as one of the People of the Year in 2015 by the NME. Expressing his views at the time on what led him to combine business and football, he told Sifted: “As a child, I had two passions, football and sustainability. I grew up in Marseilles near the sea, and was aware of the environmental questions around ocean plastics and chemical pollution from a very young age.” Flamini is the official CEO of the company, valued at a remarkable £21 billion as per the English media reports. To put this into perspective, that surpasses Ronaldo’s impressive net worth of £500 million by more than 40 times.