Celebrity Net Worth: Rafael Nadal aces off-court earnings

In our fortnightly celebrity investment and wealth round-up, Paris Hilton joins a funding round in Checkmate and footballer Harry Kane invests in AI fitness start-up OxeFit

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal's company Aspemir reported a turnover of $21.5 million in 2021. AFP

Rafael Nadal

Whether or not Rafael Nadal makes another dollar off the gentleman’s sport, his post-tennis future is assured.

Although Nadal has had to sit out this year’s French Open, the tennis pro’s investment company Aspemir had a turnover of €20 million ($21.5 million) in 2021, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais, quoting registry filings.

The results include earnings of €11.4 million, a jump of 102 per cent compared with the same period in 2020.

Through Aspemir, the Spaniard controls 20 companies. His mother, Ana Maria Parera, is sole administrator and his father, Sebastian Nadal, is a proxy, the newspaper said.

Aspemir’s investments include the Tatel restaurant group, luxury property company Mabel, a sports complex in Nadal’s hometown of Manacor and several renewable energy ventures.

Nadal wins 2022 French Open – in pictures

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  Spaniard Rafael Nadal celebrates after beating Casper Ruud of Norway to win the French Open for a 14th time at Roland Garros in Paris on June 5, 2022. EPA

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  Rafael Nadal celebrates with the trophy. Getty

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  Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning the French Open. AFP

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  Rafael Nadal hugs Norway's Casper Ruud after winning the men's singles final. Reuters

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  Nadal celebrates with the French Open trophy. Getty

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  Nadal returns to Casper Ruud. AFP

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  Spectators show their support for Norway's Casper Ruud. AFP

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  Spain's Rafael Nadal clenches his fist after winning a point. AP

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  Casper Ruud in action during the final. EPA

The company also owns 18 properties, including sites in upmarket areas of Madrid and Barcelona.

Nadal has a net worth of €295 million, Spanish newspaper El Mundo calculated in February.

The figure represents a 31.1 per cent increase over the preceding 12 months, a difference of about €70 million.

In 2022, he earned $9.9 million from tournaments, including a 22nd Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Nadal is the 196th-richest person in Spain, according to El Mundo. However, he is one of the richest tennis players in the world.

ATP Tour data shows the clay-court specialist has earned $134.6 million over his 22-year career, putting him behind leader Novak Djokovic, whose tournament winnings totalled $167.2 million as of June 8.

Counting endorsements and appearance fees, Nadal’s career earnings amount to more than $500 million, according to Forbes magazine.

Among the major brands he has worked with are Nike, Kia, Babolat, Santander, Richard Mille, Lanvin and Emporio Armani.

Over a typical year, Nadal’s annual pre-tax earnings amount to about $40 million from all sources, according to wealth tracking website Celebrity Net Worth.

He has earned only $310,797 from tennis in 2023, having had to withdraw from most of this year’s tournaments due to long-standing injuries.

This month, he announced that surgery to fix a troublesome psoas muscle had been a success. With a recovery time of five months, Nadal, now 37, could begin the next chapter in his career before the Australian Open in January.

Before then, another business venture will boost his 2023 earnings.

Zel, the hotel brand he created with Melia Hotels International in December, will open its first hotel next month. The luxury Zel Mallorca hotel, located on a beach in Palmanova, will welcome guests from July 1.

Paris Hilton has invested in automated savings app Checkmate. Photo: Instagram / parishilton

Paris Hilton

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton has joined a $15 million investment round in automated savings app Checkmate.

The series A round was led by Google Ventures and included more than a dozen other investors and funds, including Hilton’s husband, Carter Reum, through his M13 Ventures company.

Mantis, the venture capital fund of electronic duo The Chainsmokers, and Trevor Neff of Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures also joined the funding round, the company said in a recent blog post.

The US-based Checkmate automates shopping discounts for iPhone users via a Safari browser extension. The app uses online and email searches to improve mobile shopping at a time when e-commerce has become more personalised and regulators are strengthening customer privacy.

Since its launch last year, the app has hit number one in the Apple App Store, surpassing more than 380,000 users, including 55,000 daily active users.

This is its second funding round after a $5 million seed round in September.

Hilton, 42, has a net worth of $300 million. She is the great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, who founded the Hilton Hotel chain, but has reportedly received a fraction of the hotelier’s fortune.

Instead, she has turned a career as a model, actor, reality TV star, DJ and influencer into a revenue stream worth billions of dollars.

As of 2020, her 30 fragrances had generated more than $2.65 billion in gross revenue, according to Elle Canada magazine. Together with her other fashion and retail businesses, Paris Hilton-backed products have generated more than $4 billion in sales.

Through her company 11:11 Media, Hilton is also involved in a wide range of creative and technology ventures, including businesses in the digital, audio, film, television, licensing and metaverse space.

The Simple Life star has invested in at least 12 different companies, according to investor information platform Crunchbase.

The majority of these have been start-ups linked to the blockchain, web3 and metaverse environment, including video platform Shibuya and cryptocurrency payments company MoonPay.

Football star Harry Kane says AI could help prevent injuries. Reuters

Harry Kane

English Premier League star Harry Kane has invested in OxeFit, a robotics and artificial intelligence-based fitness technology start-up, the Texas-based company said.

The oversubscribed series A round was joined by several professional athletes, including golfers Dustin Johnson and Talor Gooch, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

The round brought in $20 million, according to market intelligence platform CB Insights. The size of Kane’s investment was not made public.

The real-time data that OxeFit machines provide can help stop or reduce injuries, Kane says.

“What impressed me most about OxeFit is not only the science behind the physical products, but the combination of robotics and content working together to deliver a truly customised training experience,” he says.

Kane, 29, has a net worth of £51 million ($63.9 million) as of May 2023, up from £42 million a year previously, according to The Sunday Times.

His income largely stems from his contract with Tottenham Hotspur, where he earns about £200,000 each week, or £10.4 million annually, as a striker under a six-year deal running until 2025.

Endorsements provide further income, notably from Nike, Gatorade and EA Sports.

Kane also has an extensive property portfolio valued at more than £13 million, according to the UK’s The Sun newspaper, which cited accounts for his company, Edward James Investments.

US actor Leonardo Dicaprio has invested in Earth observation and geospatial start-up Nuview. AFP

Leonardo DiCaprio

Joining the world’s billionaires in the new space race is Leonardo DiCaprio. The Academy award-winning actor recently invested in Earth observation and geospatial start-up Nuview, the company said last week.

It is the actor’s first investment into a space economy company, according to investor information website Pitchbook.

Using a network of 20 light detection and ranging technology satellites, Nuview aims to generate centimetre-level accurate representations of the Earth, to provide greater data clarity in the fight against climate change.

“Nuview’s cutting-edge technology will set itself apart by generating high-resolution, 3D images of the Earth's surface, intending to improve our ability to monitor and protect the planet with much more accuracy,” DiCaprio says.

“This unprecedented data set will help enable scientists, policymakers and conservationists to make more informed decisions and uncover valuable new insights in climate science.”

Watch: Leonardo DiCaprio at Cop26

The new outlay is rooted in DiCaprio’s broader investment approach.

The long-time climate change advocate supports a wide range of sustainability-focused ventures. These include alternative meat start-ups Aleph Farms, Beyond Meat and Mosa Meat, solar energy players Powerhive and Kingo Energy, and packaging substitute CruzFoam.

Last year, a climate fund he backs, Regeneration.VC, raised $45 million to help make sustainable consumer goods available to wider audiences.

DiCaprio, 48, has a net worth of $300 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.