Romanian billionaire Ion Tiriac to Simona Halep: You can consider yourself a poor athlete till you reach USD 0.5 bln

Romanian businessman and former tennis player Ion Tiriac told Simona Halep that she should consider herself a poor athlete until she makes USD 0.5 billion. Halep won USD 10 million prize money in her career so far. “I am poor from his point of view. I’m ok, we’ll see in the future. If I have results, the financial part will also grow,” Halep told the press. When asked if Simona Halep should continue her collaboration with Australian coach Darren Cahill, Tiriac said that Simona knew exactly what she should do, but that he considered Cahill a good coach. The Romanian businessman also denied the rumors according to which he was planning to sell the rights for the tennis tournament in Madrid. “Right now I have no comment to make related to the tournament in Madrid, or the one in Bucharest. When the time will come, I will not lie. I will say nothing, or I will say that yes, I’ve sold it,” said Tiriac. Simona Halep, who's second in the WTA ranking of the best women's tennis players in the world, after she recently reached the semifinals of the US Open, attended the opening event of two new clay tennis courts in the Ion Tiriac Sports Complex, on Wednesday, September 16. Romanian do-it-yourself retailer Dedeman, which is also Halep's sponsor, financed the two courts. Former tennis player Ion Tiriac is one of Romania's richest. He recently sold his stake in local lender UniCredit Tiriac Bank for several hundred million euros. He also owns stakes in insurance group AllianzTiriac, in retailer Metro Cash&Carry Romania, and he controls Tiriac Holding, a group of companies operating in the auto retail, real estate, and energy sectors. His fortune is estimated at over USD 1 billion. UniCredit buys out billionaire Ion Tiriac’s stake in Romanian subsidiary What would former Romanian tennis player Ion Tiriac change in tennis? Romanian investor Ion Tiriac’s rare car collection re-opens after expansion: more cars on display, including a LaFerrari Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Complexul Sportiv Ion Tiriac on Facebook)