Ion, also known as the ‘ Brasov Bulldozer, ‘ is a Romanian entrepreneur and a former professional player in tennis and ice hockey. Tiriac is the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament’s founder and operator. He has been able to amass a net worth of over $2 billion, becoming Romania’s richest man in the process.
Ion Tiriac was born in Transylvania, perhaps because of the pseudonym ‘ Count Dracula. He showed great promise for professional sports as a young athlete. In 1961 and 1965, in sporting events at the Summer Universiade, he won three Bronze and two Gold medals.
From Ice Hockey to Tennis
Tiriac first participated as an ice hockey player on the Romanian national team at the 1964 Winter Olympics on the international sports scene. Soon after that, as his main sport, he turned to tennis. He made a name for himself as a tennis player, showing class both on and off the court.
In 2007, he became the first Romanian to join the Forbes Milliardaires Index. The Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open is owned by Tiriac. TiriacAIR, HVB Tiriac Bank, Allianz-Tiriac Asigurari Romania, TiriacAuto, Tiriac Leasing and Tir Travel are among his firms.
Professional tennis player Ion Tiriac is still the only Romanian to appear among the world’s richest people in the Forbes list. With a fortune valued at $1.2 billion, the Romanian entrepreneur climbed to $1,818 in the 2019 version of the Forbes Millionaires index. Through contrast, Tiriac was in the Forbes list at 1,867 in 2018, with a total wealth of 2 billion dollars.
A $2 Billion Net Worth Roadmap
After his career as a professional athlete, he was as a technical consultant to various companies in this area across Europe and the USA and organized tournaments such as the Eurocard Open, Austrian Open, Italian Open, Faber Grand Prix and Open Romania and was chairman of the Romanian Olympic Committee from 1998 to 2004. In 1998, he would become president of the Romanian National Olympic Committee.
Ibiriac has also been approved for the BRD Năstase ibiriac tennis tournament since 1996. It is officially a € 450,000 event, part of the 250 series of the ATP World Tour, held annually in Bucharest, Romania, only two weeks before the Madrid Open. He was named in the nominee class for the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012. He joined the World Tennis Hall of Fame on 13 July 2013.
Ion has been a successful promoter and tournament director for numerous events, including the season-end Masters Grand Prix of the ATP World Tour, and two of the largest Masters 1000 events – the Italian Open and the Madrid Masters. He is still an effective Mutua Madrid Open manager and shareholder.
Businesses and Achievements
Tiriac included his business endeavors in a TV commercial for Miller Lite. He has made numerous investments and companies, including Banca Tiriac, the first private bank in post-communist Romania. He has founded various companies including supermarkets, car dealerships, airlines and insurers.
Ion Tiriac owns a controlling interest in Allianz-Tiriac, one of the biggest local insurers in Romania, which has also invested in real estate, automobile dealerships and petroleum supplies.
Ion has reached the final of the Davis Cup many times during the 70s as part of the Romanian team. He won 22 doubles matches, as well as finishing as the runner-up in several tournaments.
Tiriac featured in a TV commercial for Miller Lite about his business endeavors. He also made numerous acquisitions and enterprises, including the first private bank in post-communist Romania, Banca Tiriac. He developed many companies including supermarkets, car dealerships, airlines, and insurers.
His net worth continued to build and eventually became the first Romanian to reach the billionaires list of Forbes. In 2010, with assets ranging from $2 to $2.2 billion, he was proclaimed the richest man in Romania.
Houses and Cars
The 73-year-old billionaire in Baneasa, Bucharest, is the owner of a spectacular penthouse. It is situated in the proprietary residential area of the billionaire named Stejarii. The development was completed in 2010 and a place where his brother, Ion πiriac, and Adrian Sarbu, owner of Romanian TV channel PRO Tv, also work.
The first private Romanian museum to be opened to the public is the Tiriac Collection. The gallery is situated in Otopeni City, Romania, very next to Bucharest, the capital city. This contains more than 60 parts from different time frames which mix cars and motorcycles, the youngest being one piece from 1899.
Over time, more than 250 vehicles from his personal collection will be shown in the exhibition. More than 30 car and motorcycle brands like Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Bmw, Porsche, Aston Martin, Harley Davidson and Indian Scout can be seen in the collection.
Tiriac is also number five in the list of the 20 richest men in Romania published by Forbes, the Romanian version of the international business journal. Other entrepreneurs including Romanian cable operator RCS & RDS founder Zoltan Teszari, InterAgro Group boss Ioan Niculae, Grup Servicii Petroliere manager Gabriel Comanescu, are also on the list.
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Calvin Ebun-Amu is passionate about finance and technology. While studying his bachelor’s degree, he found himself using his spare time to research and write about finance. Calvin is particularly fascinated by economics and risk management. When he’s not writing, he’s reading a book or article on risk and uncertainty by his favourite non-fiction author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Calvin has a bachelors degree in law and a post-graduate diploma in business.