Cristiano Ronaldo s wealth will exceed 1 billion in 2025, but the real richest man in international football is the French star

In October, Forbes and Bloomberg released sports star income data for 2025. Cristiano Ronaldo ranked as the world's highest-paid athlete in 2025 and the first billionaire player in history. His wealth is estimated to reach 1.04 billion pounds. This wealth comes from his income on the court, generous endorsement agreements, real estate empire and investments.

But Ronaldo is by no means the richest athlete in the world. The one we are talking about today is worth 10 times as much as Ronaldo!

He is Arsenal star Mathieu Flamini and a former French international who retired in 2019 to join the business world.

Flamini was born in Marseille in 1984 and played for the youth team of his hometown club Marseille. In 2003, he made his first appearance for the national team in a 1-0 victory over Toulouse. As a midfielder with solid basic skills, he left a deep impression on the team.

In his 16-year career, he has played for Marseille, Arsenal, Milan, Crystal Palace and Getafe in La Liga. The most well-known among fans is undoubtedly his time at Arsenal.

Just as Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger commented on him, Flamini is extremely dedicated to his work. He can play any position in the midfield, has strong stealing ability and excellent will and quality.

His will and wisdom have also accompanied him in achieving great achievements off the court.

Flamini grew up in the peaceful Mediterranean island of Corsica. Although it is a small village, his hometown is surrounded by mountains. In winter, there are only 80 people in the village, living in harmony with nature.

This also makes him extremely sensitive to the natural environment. Since he was a child, he has established a great dream of saving nature and saving the earth.

While joining AC Milan in Italy in 2008, he used the money earned from playing football to establish a biochemical company GFBiochemicals with his friends, which is a company focused on developing sustainable alternative petroleum products.

The company is the world's leading producer of levulinic acid and its derivatives. Levulinic acid is derived from grass or wood chips and can be used in the plastics, solvents, fuel and pharmaceutical industries. It has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of 12 "greener" energy sources.

As early as 2010, the company's valuation was as high as 20 billion U.S. dollars. A 2015 Forbes report even estimated the company's market value to 50 billion!

But this mysterious energy company cannot participate in public transactions, and there are many doubts about its valuation.

According to the "Sun" report, Flamini has received generous returns in this company. Currently, as the company's chief CEO, his net worth is estimated to be 10 billion pounds.

Of course, in addition to this start-up company with a mysterious market value, Flamini’s private life is also quite mysterious.

Now Flamini has become a leading figure in the field of climate and environmental protection, and has been invited to speak at Harvard Business School and the European Commission. Recently, after becoming a member of the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, Flamini also met with King Charles III of England at Buckingham Palace, a treatment that far exceeded that of British superstar David Beckham.

This article was originally edited by Yitu Sports

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