Oftentimes, we believe celebrities lead easy lives, where everything is cut out for them. In many cases, it’s true and they have completely different worries than the average person. But they have worked very hard to get there and being rich and famous comes with its disadvantages. Micah Richards knows a bit about those.
In a new interview with The Athletic, the English former professional soccer player recalls getting rich really quick. He started as a defender in the Premier League for Manchester City in 2005 when he was just 17.
Getting rich at such a young age takes a toll on anyone and the retired defender-turned-Sky-Sports-commentator revealed he impulsively spent the money he made.
He explained: "Imagine going from £500 a week to £5,000 a week... and then going from £5,000 a week to £50,000 a week. Then you'd get bonuses, appearance money, and a signing-on fee that was spread over the length of the contract. I remember one pay packet was like "£250,000 for a month. I was at the training ground, just looking at my payslip, thinking, 'Wow. How?'"
Since he was very young, he didn't have a good money management. "What can you do? I know what I did.,” and explained that he “went straight out and bought myself a Ferrari.”
And that wasn’t even his first car. Richards continued, "I already had a Range Rover and an Aston Martin, but I thought, 'It's time'. I bought myself a Ferrari, an F430.” When he got a taste of the Maranello brand, he added another model, a 458 Speciale.
After getting his need for high-end cars in check, he moved on to real estate. He explained: “I bought this £3 million ($3,6 million), seven-bedroom house and I was living with two brothers, two cousins, my best mate. Where I was living was already more than enough, but this is what happens when you're a footballer. It's always, 'Who has the best house? Who has the best car?'. You can never just be content. You've always got to want more.”
He also used to spend over $100,000 a night when he went out in Manchester or London. At one point, he realized that hemorrhaging money left and right wasn’t a clever idea, so he put a stop to it. Currently, he’s estimated at $45 million.
When it comes to his career, Micah Richards won the Premier League title, an FA Cup, and a League Cup with Manchester City. He joined Aston Villa in 2015 and retired in 2019.
Imagine a Wenn diagram for cars and celebrities. At the intersection you'll find Monica, putting her passion for these fields and English-Spanish double major to work. She's been doing for the past seven years, most recently at autoevolution. Full profile
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