How blowing Sh77 million in 30 minutes taught Emmanuel Adebayor valuable money lessons

“I was born in a house without light [electricity] or a toilet, in a small village at the border of Togo and Ghana, so why would I forget who I am or where I come from? I wanted to get out of the block, and I did. Now I want to serve humanity, better people’s lives so that we can all enjoy life,” he says.

The hardest question to answer for this retired professional Togolese footballer who turned 41 last week, has to be what his memorable moment has been because his life has been a litany of memorable moments. Both good and bad.

Perhaps one of those good moments was the four-day visit to Kenya last week where he headlined the Football Fiesta event in Nairobi curated by Africa Cultural Enterprise, a London-based agency that has been hosting English Premier League watch parties in Africa by bringing in African legends such as Adebayor.

The forward extraordinaire, announced his retirement on March 2023 with a memorable video of his infamous 2009 goal celebration for Manchester City against former club Arsenal where he played most of his football (142 appearances) scoring most goals (62).

When he scored in the 4-2 thriller, the six-foot-three forward ran the length of the pitch taunting Arsenal fans.

“They had been insulting me (throughout the) game. Look, they were not happy I left the club,” he told Lifestyle at his hotel in Nairobi.

The incident earned him a two-match ban and a £25,000 (Sh4.1 million) fine. Now retired, the 2008 African Player of the Year is living his best life.

On the day we meet, Adebayor is wearing a matching Louis Vuitton Damier Denim Chic jacket and trousers. He has a penchant for timepieces. Besides what is on his wrist, his exceptional personalised watch collection includes Jacob & Co 5 Time zones £50,000 (Sh25 million), Delacour City Ego £20,000 (Sh3.3 million), Hublot Big Bang King Power Chrono Tourbillion £100,000, AP Royal Oak Offshore £20,000 and Concord C1 £45,000 (Sh7.4 million) and Rolex Yacht-Master II £29,100 (Sh4.8 million).

Adebayor, who made over $45 million (Sh6 billion) in career earnings according to Capology, a data firm that offers insight into financial data on players' salaries and club financial statements, has now ventured into farming.

Before we talk about farming, which was the most difficult stadium you played in?

There are three stadiums in England that are very difficult to play at and come out on top. The fans and the atmosphere at Everton's Goodison Park, Old Trafford (Manchester United) and Anfield (Liverpool) aren't very welcoming to visiting teams. They are the toughest grounds to go to.

You must have heard what Jamie Carragher said the other day about the African Cup of Nations…

Forget Carragher, don't take anything he says seriously. If you look at his career, he hasn't won anything. This is somebody who has played his whole life at one club (Liverpool) and he hasn't even been one of the main players. He never proved himself anywhere else, in any other club. Many African players have proven themselves elsewhere. So as Africans, we should ignore what he says and concentrate on making our football better.

Former Manchester United coach Erik Ten Hag recently said modern players struggle to deal with criticism, would you agree?

Obviously, it's a different generation, I saw some of them during the AFCON in Ivory Coast, I had a chat with them and I could tell that their mentality is a little bit different (from our generation). I know they won't be happy for me to say this; in today's world where everybody is on social media, I don't see a big difference between them and Burna Boy. Burna Boy is a showman, he puts most of the things about himself on social media, same with these players, they put so much of their public life on social media and some of them have ended up in the wrong way because they spend so much time creating content than focusing on playing football. They should leave content creation to people like my brother Burna Boy.

We have seen cases where African players go to Europe and make millions but end up broke when their football career ends. What could be the problem?

It’s very easy to figure this out. When you’re living in Europe, you have the money and also access to anything and everything precious. You have access to diamonds, gold, fast cars, and anything that is luxury, so if you don’t have your head firmly on your shoulders, you are bound to make mistakes. A lot of these mistakes start when you move to Europe unprepared, having not made money before (in Africa) and all of a sudden you start earning huge amounts. The mistakes begin right there from the beginning after you realise you have money and can own everything and anything, even if it is not necessary. At that point, most of the contracts are always five years and you are earning £60,000 - £100,000 a week. (Sh7.7 million – Sh13 million)

Do you get paid every week?

It’s added up and dropped into your account every month, whether you play or not. It's always so much money that some players get used to that kind of lifestyle, forgetting that eventually the career will be over. When it's over and you've made those bad decisions, most of us still think we can keep up with the same lifestyle until we realise that the money isn't coming in like it used to. That's when a player starts selling everything of value they own to try to keep up with the high life, and after a year or two they have nothing left to sell, that's when reality hits you, and believe me, when reality hits you, it is very bad. It becomes a mental health situation. Imagine somebody who's used to eating whatever they want to eat becoming somebody who has no choice. I try to tell my younger brothers that whatever they are making today, they should know that there is tomorrow.

What was the one bad money decision you made?

To be honest, I have made some bad money decisions. I bought so many things I shouldn't have spent millions on, like luxury cars.

There was one day I went to a showroom and I spent well over £600,000 (Sh77 million) on three cars on the same day. To date when I look back, I regret it because, did I really need those three cars at the same time? At the end of the day, you can only drive one car at a time. Even if you have a convoy, you are still not enjoying the other cars because it’s not you who is driving them. This is why I tell my younger brothers to invest wisely and save when they can because some of these purchases depreciate in value over time.

What cars were these?

I bought a Bentley which cost £260,000, I got a Rolls Royce Phantom for £370,000, and a Mercedes ML 360 AMG for £90,000 within 30 minutes, and that’s because the showrooms were in one row. There is this street in London where all the showrooms of luxury cars are just next to one another. I would have spent even more pounds because I wanted to get a Ferrari too, but the problem was I couldn’t drive it because of my size. (6.3 feet). I can’t fit inside a Ferrari.

Do you still buy cars?

Yes, I do, but I am wiser now. Every year I buy one brand new zero-kilometer car not worth more than $150,000 (Sh19 million), and then I am happy and contented for the rest of the year.

And what do you drive now?

I have so many cars that I drive; I have a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, I own two G Wagons and I just bought myself a new BMW X7 for my birthday, I have a BMW X6, I own a Cherokee and a couple of others. In December, I will see which other car to get for the coming year.

When did you realise you needed to start building wealth?

When I signed for Istanbul Basaksehir in 2017, I was 32 years old and I realised I was nearing the end of my career now that I had left England. I called my financial advisor, I was lucky to have a good professional, and asked him what I should do. He advised me on a couple of investments that he thought I should invest in and that's exactly what I did. I'm grateful because to date I'm still able to have the lifestyle I had during my playing days although I'm retired.

In what ways have you diversified your wealth?

All the money I made in Turkey, I decided to channel all that towards farming, so back home in Togo, I have begun acquiring land, and so far I have bought 65 acres cumulatively. I am doing cow farming and own several hundred herds of cattle.

There is also chicken farming as well that I have started. I am also planning to use about 15 acres to set up an academy in partnership with the president of the country to nurture football talent in Togo. There is also agriculture. Besides farming, I run my SEA foundation that supports education in universities and art.

During my playing days, I invested heavily in real estate. I own a few luxury apartments in Paris, I have some in London, I have a lot of luxury homes in Togo, including a storage unit, and I also have a lot of apartments and houses in Ghana. Now you see why I look like I am still playing (laughs) because I am still able to maintain the same lifestyle from my career days.

What has been your most valuable money lesson?

Being patient with money. I never used to be patient, if I wanted something now in Kenya, I would go get it without a second thought. Even without possibly figuring out how I will transport it to Togo. Now what I do is to first find a solution before I can create a problem.

How do you unwind?

Well, because I built myself a very luxurious house in Togo that has a cinema hall, you will most definitely find me there enjoying a movie. I also love reading books, my current read is ‘Before You Climb Any Higher’ by Jonathan McReynolds.

You have previously put your family on the spot, over black tax. How are you dealing with that?

Listen, it’s a difficult topic, especially for us Africans, but at the end of the day, you have to learn to focus on your life and yourself. I don’t want to focus on anybody doing something towards or against me, I am just busy focusing on my brand.

You did not answer the question…

Look, like I said, this is the most difficult thing ever to deal with. They may be your parents, sisters or brothers, but still, they don’t know the real you or what you are going through, they will come to you with all sorts of demands. I reached a point where I had to draw a line, I told everyone I have my life, and they have theirs, and that I will put my needs first over theirs. I will do what pleases me first. If you request some help from me, I will do it on my own terms if I feel I want to, you cannot dictate the terms just because we are related. I am the one travelling around making the money. Even my family members can’t come to my house unannounced. I am glad these boundaries are working.

What’s your indulgence?

My project. Rather than splashing money on gold chains and diamonds or going out to clubs like I used to, now I am spending so much of my money on my projects, especially farming. I just pumped in $150,000 (Sh19 million) in the chicken project before I flew here.

You are still fit, even after retirement.

That’s because of three things; I play football twice a week, I play tennis three to four times a week, and you can also imagine the kind of activities I get myself into when I am on the farm.

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