Life after a career is an important stage for any professional footballer. Former French international Mathieu Flamini took his time to think about what he could do after hanging up his boots. The former Milan and Arsenal player is now one of the richest players in the world thanks to his investment. A successful post-career life for the Frenchman, whose fortune is estimated at nearly 15 billion euros.
Flamini, a chequered career
Mathieu Flamini is a footballer whose name doesn’t say much next to global stars like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But the Frenchman has played for some of the world’s biggest clubs, including Marseille in France, Arsenal in England and AC Milan in Italy. He played as a midfielder, where he made his debut with Olympique de Marseille, his club of training. A fiery character, Flamini quickly made his mark in the Marseille team between the end of 2003 and 2004, where he played 24 matches. Flamini is one of the players, along with Didier Drogba, to have played in a UEFA Cup final against Valencia in 2004.
In 2004, he signed for Arsenal until 2008, before returning to the club a few years later in 2013 until 2016. The French midfielder was to do Arsenal a world of good, with Arséne Wenger playing him in several positions. He won trophies with Arsenal: the FA Cup in 2005, 2014 and 2015 and the Community Shield in 2004, 2014 and 2015. He was a finalist in the Champions League in 2006, losing 2-1 to Barcelona.
His time at AC Milan was also crowned with success. From 2008 to 2013, he was Italian champion in 2011, won the Italian Supercup in 2011 and the Luigi Berlusconi Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2011. He was runner-up in the Italian championship in 2012.
Flamini went on to play for Crystal Palace and Getafe in Spain between 2018 and 2019 before retiring the same year.
With the Blues, Flamini did not enjoy success with the French national team. The midfielder went back and forth with coach Reymond Domenech. Flamini did not take part in Euro 2008, being left out of the squad along with six others. He was also left out of the 2010 World Cup squad for South Africa. A total failure with the Blues, he played little with France.
Mathieu Flamini, the DNA of a businessman
Even before hanging up his boots, Mathieu Flamini started thinking about his post-career life. In 2008, while playing for AC Milan, the Frenchman teamed up with an Italian entrepreneur by the name of Pasquale Granata for the biochemicals start-up GF Biochemicals (“GF” for Green Future and Granata-Flamini), which operates in the oil sector. The start-up is developing a bio-based substitute for petroleum.
“This acid is a bio-based way of replacing oil using biomass (organic matter, such as wood waste or maize residues, which can be converted into energy) to create plastics, solvents, detergents, paint and even, why not, fuel oil”, Mathieu Flamini told Les Echos in 2016.
“Pasquale and I wanted to come up with a business idea that could have an impact on the environment. We met an Italian scientist who told us about this acid with amazing properties. The big difficulty, however, is not using this acid, but being able to produce it on an industrial scale”, the footballer explained to the business daily.
Today, 10 years after its launch, the start-up is worth almost 30 billion euros. The player’s fortune is estimated at nearly 15 billion euros. He is 25 times richer than David Beckham.
As Managing Director of GFBiochimicals, Mathieu Flamini is multiplying his partnerships, and his company has raised €15 million in collaboration with other companies operating in the ecological sector, such as Sofinnova Partners, with the participation of Sparta Capital. This funding should enable the company to accelerate its development in the green chemistry market.
Although Mathieu Flamini’s career can be summed up by his spells at Arsenal and AC Milan, the Frenchman has succeeded in an area where many footballers fail. Life after a career is important for footballers, and Flamini understood this very early on. Now retired, he has no money worries thanks to what his company and collaborations bring him.
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