Out of Play
How Real Madrid star Gareth Bale has made his millions and invested wisely to fund luxury lifestyle for him and his family
GARETH BALE is the shrewd Real Madrid multi-millionaire who could just as easily be a top businessman as well as one of the world’s best footballers.
The former Spurs star became the game’s most expensive player when he moved to the Bernabeu for £86million in September 2013.
But a telling testament to his level-headedness lies in a story from Bale’s ex-Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp.
Redknapp told Bale to have four days rest and go for a beach holiday during another relentless Premier League season.
But instead the Welshman – who now earns £350,000 a week after tax in Madrid – went home to Cardiff to see his mum.
Even now Bale will get on the blower to mum Debbie and ask for her advice before he makes any business decision.
And he has repaid Debbie, 57, and dad Frank, 61, financially by making them millions through a clever business scheme.
In 2015 Bale gave his folks £5m — by pumping £12.6m into a firm he owns with them.
He transferred the sum from his image rights into Primesure Ltd, which is 40 per cent owned by his mum and dad.
They were already financially secure after pocketing around £2m when Bale joined Real Madrid in 2013.
But in true understated Bale style, they are thought to still live in a former council home in Cardiff where their world famous son was brought up.
It is all part of the Bale brand – one noticeably at odds with that of Los Blancos team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese’s Instagram page is littered with extravagant displays of his vast wealth.
But go on Bale’s and you are more likely to see a photo of him playing golf – his other passion in life.
And when you’re worth £24.5m, you can afford to build a replica of the sport’s most famous hole in your back garden.
That is exactly what Bale did by paying to have a version of Sawgrass’ famous par-3 17th installed at his Wales residence, along with holes from Augusta and Royal Troon.
And while Ronaldo boasts of having a £2.15m custom-made Bugatti Chiron, Bale merely hired his supercars.
Bale took out a membership with luxury rental company Auto Vivendi.
The £30,000-a-year scheme gave him access to a new £300,000 supercar every two months.
In 2015 he was pictured next to a £148,000 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, which goes from 0-62mph in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 204mph.
And in 2016 he posed alongside a £325,000 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, with a £280,000 Ferrari and private jet in the background.
However, SunSport told you Bale has had to give up the flash car lifestyle because their small confines played havoc with his hamstrings.
Fellow Welshman Ryan Giggs also had similar problems in his career and ditched the supercars in favour of more family-friendly motors.
Bale’s bank account also swells thanks to his many endorsement deals, which according to Forbes netted him more than £7.5m last year alone.
He is with boot maker Adidas until 2020 – after signing a six-year deal in 2014 worth £20m – and his latest tie-up was with Dubai-based Altitude, who make a training mask also used by Anthony Joshua.
All of this has allowed Bale, 28, to do – and have – whatever he wants in life.
In 2013, for example, he discreetly checked in with a plastic surgeon to have his ears pinned back.
Just this month he bought a £250,000 house and a car for his future sister-in-law and mum of two, Kate, after her partner Alex’s suicide.
And he has loyally stuck by the side of Emma Rhys-Jones, 26, his teenage sweetheart to whom he is now engaged and has two children with – Alba Violet, five, and Nava Valentina, one.
While Bale’s nearest and dearest are clearly close to his heart, so is his trademark celebration – which of course is legally protected from being imitated.
The decision to protect his hand-clasping celebration, made official in 2013, is said to earn him around £10m a year.
And he has branched out into other areas too, opening his own Elevens Bar and Grill in Cardiff.
Bale personally helped out with tasting the food on the menu and helped decide what drinks should go on the menu.
Speaking ahead of its opening, the winger said: “It has been a big goal and ambition of mine to open a sports bar in Cardiff. We hope to have the best burger in the city.”
You could be forgiven for thinking he goes to sleep on a bed of money – and the truth is that Bale actually makes money while getting some shut eye.
He has featured in adverts for online mattress startup Simba Sleep.
They described themselves as makers of “the most advanced mattresses in the world” and promised investors a sale growth of 460 per cent last year with revenues of £60m.
Bale helped design his own aeroplane seat which is able monitor noise, temperature, light, humidity and even air particles.
It even moves to adjust his sleeping position for the best kip possible when he is on international flights.