On July 7, 1985, Boris Becker was a 17-year-old German from blonde hair and a fiery spirit. But he is not the most teenager. That afternoon, Becker wore a polo shirt and shorts a little under his thigh which were both white. His pants looked dirty with dust. Thousands of pairs of eyes looked anxiously and at the same time excited.
Becker is facing Kevin Curren in the Wimbledon final that afternoon. He only needed one blow to become a champion. As the tongue soaked the upper lip, Becker hit the hard service that hit Curren's left side. The experienced tennis player who defeated number 1 John McEnroe in the quarter-finals can only parry the ball, sending the ball to the side. Out. Becker got the points he was waiting for.
Becker, the magical teenager, became the youngest Wimbledon champion in the history of the oldest and most prestigious tournament. Until now, the record has not been solved. Becker's days then contained a lot of admiration. In the span of his career, Becker managed to become a Grand Slam champion 6 times (3 times Wimbledon champion, 1 US Open, 2 Australian Open), 5 Year-End Championship winners, 13 Masters Series winners, and won the 1992 Olympic gold medal with a partner double Michael Stich.
His life is also wallowing in money. During his career, he is expected to get around 25 million dollars from tournament prizes. That number places him in 7th place as the biggest prize-earning player.
But everything started to change since Becker retired. He was involved in several sex scandals, divorce, and large amounts of debt. After several times selling property to pay off debts, Becker was finally declared bankrupt by the Court in London in June 2017. One of the reasons was the debt to Swiss businessman Hans-Dieter Cleven. Becker was said to have a debt of 36.5 million euros against Cleven and could not be paid.
Becker and Cleven used to be business partners. They formed a company called Becker-Cleven Foundation. However, the collaboration ends badly. Becker's lawyer, Christian Oliver-Moser, accused Cleven of giving, "an untrue statement."
Although his lawyer denied, the public already knew that Becker was indeed experiencing financial difficulties. However, he is not the only wealthy athlete who falls free. Bankruptcy is a common thing for wealthy athletes who have retired.
Burning Money and Falling Poorly
In Indonesia, the profession of athletes may indeed be considered less promising. Especially after there are many tragic stories of athletes after retirement. But in European countries, as well as the United States, the profession of athletes can produce large amounts of money. Because it's no wonder that the athletes are among the biggest earners in the world.
Unfortunately, after the retirement of many athletes who fell into poverty. Time has written about 10 ultra-rich athletes who were then hit by financial distress, and some went bankrupt. The story was opened by the story of Vin Baker.
In 1993, Vin was considered a brilliant young talent in the world of basketball. Vin worked for 13 years in the NBA. He joined teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics, to the Los Angeles Clippers. During that time, Vin was estimated to earn around 100 million dollars. But after retiring in 2006, Vin slowly lost his money. In December 2015, he reportedly worked as Starbuck's manager in Connecticut. Connecticut local media wrote news about Vin with a sad title, "Former NBA Player Vin Baker: From Big Bucks to Starbucks".
Other NBA players also experienced financial difficulties. In 2008, the NBA Player Association was later quoted by Sports Illustrated, throwing shocking data: approximately 60 percent of NBA athletes went bankrupt after 5 years of retirement.
The same thing happened to the athletes of the National Football League, aka American soccer athletes. An estimated 78 percent of NFL athletes go bankrupt after 2 years of retirement. Similarly, baseball athletes who have become very rich, like Johnny Damon of the Yankees and Jacoby Ellsbury of The Red Sox.
The legendary boxer Evander Holyfield once got £ 350 million from professional fights. However, the money from his 28-year career ran out, and was declared bankrupt in 2012. At the end of his despair, he sold the robes worn when Mike Tyson bit his ears. Also selling his favorite 1962 Corvette car.
"It's a tough day now," Holyfield said. "Dealing with dependents for wives and children. There is absolutely no glory here. I have no one to pay a lawyer, and must fight alone in court."
His biggest rival, Mike Tyson also suffered the same fate. Throughout his career, he earned more than 400 million dollars. However, Tyson declared himself bankrupt in 2003. Time released the names of 10 famous athletes who went bankrupt. Starting from Maradona, he could be God when facing England, but he had to be a commoner when he owed tax of around 53 million dollars to the ice hockey athlete Darren McCarty.
What makes the athletes go bankrupt after bathing in a pool of money?
First, they are clearly not wise - tend to be imbecile and unreasonable - in managing expenditure. Tyson spent money on jewelry, limousines, and buying Siberian tigers. NBA player Antoine Walker spends money on clothes designers - He is known to be unwilling to wear the same shirt and suit twice. Holyfield has lost millions of dollars in gambling.
Another reason is divorce and family matters. Many athletes must pay the wife and child allowance after divorce, in large numbers. When Becker divorced with his first wife, he was required to pay assets of around 15 million euros. Basketball Allen Iverson went bankrupt after paying the gono property.
"I don't even have money to buy a cheeseburger!"
In addition, cases that often occur are wrong investments. Many athletes when they have a lot of money, spend a lot of dollars on investments that aren't clear. Start to make a rock n roll cafe, to make the company that ends in a daze. This also has to do with the poor knowledge of rich athletes on financial management.
The poor financial management and extravagant extraordinary coupled with the zero plan after retirement. Athletes who used to be rich, after retirement are usually still trying to maintain a luxurious lifestyle. As a result, money is drained quickly. Also, many of them don't know what to do to make money. There are some who have succeeded in pursuing new careers such as emcees or commentators or trainers. But when it was followed by a luxurious lifestyle, their income clearly could not compensate.
Forbes contributor and athlete agent, Leigh Steinberg, said the rich athletes had been supposed to think about finance early on. Moreover, the career range of athletes is short. Not to mention the risk of injuries that are almost unpredictable. They need the help of competent financial advisors. And as much as possible, said Leigh, follow the advice of the wise men even though they seemed stingy.
"The assistance and knowledge of the advisors can foster caution in managing finances. It's up to the athletes, whether they want to obey or ignore it," Leigh said.
Quoted from various sources
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