Olympic hero Wiggins’ pot of gold worth £2.3 million
WHEN he won his eighth medal this week, Sir Bradley Wiggins cycled into the history books as our most decorated Olympian — but his haul of gold back home is even more impressive.
I can disclose that Sir Bradley has amassed £2.26million in the company he uses to channel his earnings, Wiggins Rights Ltd.
The business, which the Tour de France winner established in 2004, held £1.64million in 2014, indicating a profit of more than £600,000 in the year to the end of June 2015.
After his success in Rio, where he led Great Britain to gold in the team pursuit, his earnings are likely to rocket.
‘Brad’s engaging personality and new status as the greatest Olympian of all time mean he is likely to become a very rich man indeed,’ a source says.
Documents filed at Companies House report that Sir Bradley owns 98 per cent of the business. His wife, Catherine, whom he embraced emotionally in the Rio velodrome after his victory, owns 1 per cent of Wiggins Rights Ltd, while his mother, Linda, has the other 1 per cent.
Wiggo — who lives in Eccleston, Lancashire, with Catherine and their two children, Ben and Isabella — announced after his win that Brazil would be his last Olympics.
‘My kids need a proper dad in their lives and my wife needs a proper husband,’ he said.
If he follows in the footsteps — or should that be cycle track — of his former Team GB colleague Victoria Pendleton, he could become a multimillionaire. Though he might not be able to enjoy the lucrative modelling deals she signed with beauty brands such as Pantene, Wiggo could take a leaf out of her book and launch his own bicycle range.
The Strictly Come Dancing contestant’s range of women’s bikes for Halfords became bestsellers and helped her amass £1.9million in her image rights company, Invictus V.
Sir Bradley, who is a Mod and friend of The Jam singer Paul Weller, brought out a clothing range for Fred Perry after London 2012.