The forgotten Arsenal star who owns a multi billion pound company worth over 40 times Cristiano Ronaldo’s staggering £500m net worth

Premier League players can earn millions from their football careers, but a forgotten former Arsenal star may have gone on to have much more success.

Frenchman Mathieu Flamini made 246 appearances for Arsenal across two separate spells, from 2004 to 2008 and later from 2013 to 2016.

It was just after he first left the Gunners for AC Milan in 2008 that he and his economics graduate business partner, Pasquale Granata, founded the company 'GF Biochemicals' in the hope of revolutionizing the energy industry.

The 39-year-old retired in 2019 and the biochemical entrepreneur has found great success with his other passion in life outside of football.

As reported by the sunthe company some 15 years after it was founded, is said to be worth £21 billion – some 40 times more than Cristiano Ronaldo's staggering net worth of £500 million.

After he and Granata founded the company in 2008, they invested millions in research, trials, infrastructure and employee wages, hoping to produce levulinic acid – a synthetic oil substitute made from wood and corn waste.

Their company in 2015 became the first in the world to mass produce the acid, which can be used to replace oil in the production of pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics and more.

Flamini told the Sun at the time: 'We are pioneers. We are opening up a new market and it is a market that is potentially worth £20 billion.”

It led to him being named one of the NME's People of the Year in 2015.

This was said by the Frenchman, now CEO of the company Sieved in an interview: 'As a child I had two passions: football and sustainability. I grew up in Marseille, near the sea, and was aware of the environmental issues surrounding ocean plastic and chemical pollution from a very young age.'

He kept his company quiet from his teammates, family and friends for the first five years as it was appropriate because he “didn't know which way the company would go” and that there was more pressure on him because he was a football player.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, he added: 'Sometimes I had to go to the training ground dressed in a suit, and when you go to training you usually wear tennis shoes, a tracksuit and a T-shirt.

'So with the guys we were all laughing, they were joking – “Oh, you're the best businessman!” But of course biochemistry is not always what we talk about in the locker room.'

The 39-year-old now claims he is joining the younger generation, such as Greta Thunberg, in building the future.

Flamini added: “The question now is when I'm not working. As an entrepreneur you have to be dedicated and you don't have to count the hours. I don't work when I sleep, but the rest of the time I am available.'

“I feel like I am part of the efforts of the younger generation, like Greta Thunberg, who are shaping the future.

“Although at the age of 15 (when Thunberg held her first protest outside the Swedish parliament) I can guarantee you that I was not on the streets fighting for my future.”

Since his company became the first in the world to mass produce levulinic acid, they have continued to grow.

In 2016, they acquired the American company Segetis as they continued to search for green alternatives to oil.

Alongside an image of the two companies' logos, Flamini tweeted at the time: 'We founded GFBiochemicals to find green alternatives to oil. The acquisition of the American company Segetis brings us closer.'

According to the Sunday TimesAs of May this year, the company employed 50 people across its global offices: a headquarters in Paris and R&D facilities in the Netherlands and the United States.

It's not the only thing Flamini has sunk his teeth into: the Frenchman has invested in 'seven or eight' startups since last year, according to Sieved.

He was also part of a team that founded BIOCIRCE (Bioeconomy in the Circular Economy) – Europe's first master's degree program dedicated to advancing bioeconomy education.

Flamini also co-founded BioJournal – the world's first e-magazine dedicated to environmental sustainability.

He also served on the Olympic Environment Committee for next summer's Paris 2024 Olympic Games and celebrated July 14 – the French national holiday – with President Emmanuel Macron.

He regularly shares updates about what he's doing on his social media and posts photos of him 'promising to protect the ocean'

Reports on the company's valuation suggest its value is 40 times greater than Ronaldo's.

This is despite the Portuguese star having a salary of £173 million a year at Al Nassr, plus all his major sponsorship deals – with endorsements including Armani and Tag Heuer.

He is also said to have a staggering lifetime contract with sportswear giant Nike.

Ronaldo, like Flamini, has also invested outside of football with a number of companies.

He has a number of hotels called Pestana CR7 – in Lisbon, Madeira, New York, Madrid and more.

IAt the end of 2016, he expanded into gyms in partnership with American health company Crunch, opening the first branch under the name 'CR7 Fitness' in Madrid. While in 2019, he launched a hair transplant clinic in Spain called Insparya.

Flamini's wages during his football career were nothing like Ronaldo's, earning around £140,000 per week during his two seasons at AC Milan.

It is claimed that the market value in biochemicals is estimated to be in excess of £64 billion.

Despite reports about the company's value, Flamini has kept quiet about its true value.

He told the Times: 'Of course I've been asked a few times about the value of the company, but this is something I've never commented on directly. [on].

'The company is a private company, but we don't really communicate about the value. It is clear that the market opportunities are great. But my main goal is: I want to make this company successful.'