Rafael Nadal has grown his wealth just months after retiring, as his company banked £70million in profit after striking a mega-money deal.
The former world No. 1 has a series of tennis centres worldwide under the Rafa Nadal Academy umbrella, with their main base in his home of Manacor, Mallorca.
Nadal has now boosted his fortune by selling almost half of his share in the company.
Nadal has academies in Mallorca, Greece, Hong Kong, Kuwait, and Mexico. He is also set to open another in Saudi Arabia as part of his role as Saudi tennis ambassador.
The inaugural Rafa Nadal Academy was opened in Manacor in 2016 and a few years later, part of the facility was transformed into a hotel, bringing in even more money.
The likes of Casper Ruud and Jaume Munar are among the alumni from the Mallorcan academy, while players like Venus Williams and Felix Auger-Aliassime have dropped in for training weeks.
According to La Voz de Ibiza, Nadal has now sold 44.9 per cent of his stake in the academy for just under £79m (€95m) to private investment firm GPF Capital.
As part of the deal, Nadal’s holding company Aspemir made a staggering profit of £70m (€85m). However, Nadal remains the main owner of his Manacor academy. The deal comes three months after the Spaniard retired from professional tennis.
GPF Capital initially bought an undisclosed stake in the academy in November 2023.
At the time, founding partner Martin Rodriguez-Fraile said: “GPF is firmly committed to investing in education and sports as fundamental pillars of society, and no project brings them together better than the Rafa Nadal Academy.”
The academy still runs training programmes for adults and juniors, and has an international school on-site. For tourists, there are swimming pools, multiple restaurants and a spa.
The Rafa Nadal Museum, where fans can see all of Nadal’s biggest trophies and souvenirs from other athletes including Roger Federer and Leo Messi, is attached to the facility.
ATP No. 5 Ruud started training at the academy in 2018 while one of his sisters is also a Rafa Nadal Academy graduate.
He previously said: “It’s great. You’ve been there and seen the facility and they are growing and expanding with like fifteen new courts.
“So it’s definitely one of the best ten places to focus on your career in tennis and become one of the best tennis players in the world.”