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During his tennis career, Boris Becker earned an estimated £38 million (roughly R730 million) in prize money and sponsorship deals.
That should be enough of a nest egg to ease into a comfortable retirement, but the German is now being forced to publicise his financial woes as part of a London trial.
He is charged with 24 counts under the Insolvency Act relating to the period between May and October 2017, for failing to disclose certain assets to settle his debts.
Yesterday, Becker spoke about the “shock and embarrassment” of being declared bankrupt in 2017. Over to the BBC:
“Because it was all over world news, and I walked through the gate of Wimbledon and everyone knew. I was embarrassed because I was bankrupt.”
He told jurors the bankruptcy was also in the midst of a “stressful time” with his then wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker, while they were living in “separate quarters” at a £22,000-a-month rented house in Wimbledon, south-west London…
He said he helped his parents build a house in his native Germany and paid cash for a family home in Munich, a property in Miami, Florida, and an estate in Mallorca, which was worth about €50 million (£42m) at the height of the property market.
The problems really began to stack up after his retirement in 1999, when he says his earnings “reduced dramatically”.
For one, he was counting the costs of his expensive 2001 divorce from ex-wife Barbara Becker involving large monthly maintenance payments to their two sons, as well as Barbara being given property in Miami.
He also had to cough up to support Angela and Anna Ermakova. The former is the woman he had sex within the broom closet of a London restaurant, and the latter is the daughter that tryst produced. Part of that support involved handing them a £2,5 million flat in London.
Becker also said his personal brand took a serious knock as reports of his financial woes and then bankruptcy became public knowledge.
Chuck in a little tax evasion and you’re really staring down the barrel. Stuff below:
Becker also owed Swiss authorities about five million francs and just under €1 million in liabilities over a conviction for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002.
Becker said he struggled to pay back the loans “because various companies didn’t prolong their contracts.”
“My image wasn’t as good any more, brand Becker was not regarded as highly as before and they didn’t want to be associated with a brand that was criticised in the media,” he said.
According to testimony at the trial, the loans referenced above are a €4,6 million loan from private bank Arbuthnot Latham in 2013, and then a $1,6 million loan from businessman John Caudwell the following year.
The loan from Caudwell came with a 25% interest rate attached.
We’re just one week into a trial expected to last three weeks. There will likely be more embarrassment for the six-time Grand Slam champion.
