Another Premier League player becomes a billionaire after retirement?

Jota retired at the age of 31 and immediately went into business.

Jota is the founder and CEO of GROINN, a technology company focused on sustainable agriculture . According to The Athletic , GROINN is valued at around £600 million by 2025 and is expanding its market to Portugal and Northern Europe.

GROINN is a smart farming system that monitors crop health and large-scale farming areas. Through sensors and modern technology platforms, users can access from any device to monitor and receive precise instructions on when to water, add appropriate nutrients, and take effective measures to prevent forest fires.

“The company is now worth 10 times what I paid for it,” Jota told The Athletic in January 2024. “I’ve had offers, but I know they can’t pay 1% of the company in three years. We’re in talks with a lot of governments because they need this technology and we’re the industry leader.”

The Daily Mail claims that GROINN could be worth more than £3bn by 2025, far more than Jota earned as a professional. Jota’s company was close to securing a major contract with the Spanish government.

Jota’s journey is reminiscent of Mathieu Flamini. The former Arsenal midfielder founded GF Biochemicals, the world ’s first company to produce levulinic acid on an industrial scale. He now has a fortune that far surpasses that of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Jota is now hailed as a "tech billionaire".

The former Spain midfielder was a standout performer at Brentford and Birmingham, notably helping Brentford reach the Championship play-offs in 2014/15. After suffering a serious cruciate ligament injury in 2015/16, Jota returned to Spain and then back to Brentford, scoring 12 goals in just 21 games in 2016/17.

That achievement earned Jota a big move to Birmingham for a club record fee. However, the decision to move to rivals Aston Villa was not successful. Jota made 16 appearances and scored just one goal during his time at Aston Villa from 2019 to 2021.

Jota was released by mutual consent at the start of the 2020/21 season and returned to Spain to join Alaves. Despite receiving a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia, Jota rejected it and retired in 2022, saying he "no longer had the motivation to play professional football".

Jota's career seemed to have ended quietly, but his life suddenly took a different turn and he became successful by founding the company GROINN. However, Jota was also caught up in a series of financial scandals.

Despite being hailed as a “tech billionaire”, according to Lecturas magazine, Jota owes €100,000 on a mortgage on his five-bedroom villa in Mungia (Basque Country). He has been selling the villa for nearly two years without finding a buyer, despite reducing the price from €2.9 million to nearly €2 million.

In addition, public opinion has questioned the sustainability behind the "tech billionaire" image that Jota has built. The reason is that he has not made public the financial reports of the company GROINN, and has been accused by his ex-wife Jessica Bueno of not providing 15,000 euros/month for their two children, Jota Jr and Alejandro.

Source: https://znews.vn/them-cau-thu-premier-league-tro-thanh-ty-phu-sau-khi-giai-nghe-post1550897.html