Former tennis player Ion Țiriac revealed that he owns, in an African country, properties totaling approximately 21,000 hectares (210 square km) . He also said that he wants to expand his investments on the continent, which he was very fascinated by.
“I have 21,000 hectares in Namibia, a property that needs to be taken care of every day (…) I go to Africa often because I was a hunter from the age of 17, before I bought the property in Namibia.
And I’m buying another one, apparently, and I’m buying another one probably in Botswana. Africa has always fascinated me from all points of view.
You go to the Masai Plateau in Tanzania and you see people living there a hundred years ago. The head of the tribe has the right to life and death.” Țiriac told iAMsport.
According to Forbes, Ion Țiriac has an estimated fortune of 2.3 billion dollars. The former sportsman leads the Țiriac Group, with interests in real estate, cars, financial services and other fields.
After retiring from tennis in the 1970s, Țiriac coached and managed top players such as Guillermo Vilas, Marat Safin and Boris Becker.
He started his career in investments after the fall of communism in Romania, and later founded the Țiriac Group.
It has a collection of over 400 automobiles and motorcycles, including vehicles that once belonged to Al Capone, Sammy Davis Jr. and Elton John.
Țiriac also represented Romania in ice hockey, including at the 1964 Winter Olympics and in three Davis Cup finals.
