#1 ·
Goran Ivanišević’s Financial Struggles
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 11:50 AM
Even though he officially hung up his racket, our top guy Goran Ivanišević is heading back to the grass courts just to dig himself out of a hole. He says basically every business venture he touched in America went south—including those real estate projects over in Miami near Meje and Firulama that he’s now looking to offload.
"I feel a bit responsible for jumping into industries where there's zero integrity. I walked into this like a kid walking onto a college campus. The sharks just ate me alive," Ivanišević told Time, being totally blunt about his failed investments.
He’s hoping to treat this as a life lesson, though he knows you don't walk away from a shark tank in one piece. Take that apartment building he built in Firulama—it still doesn't even have an access road, even though it should've been wrapped up two and a half years ago. He mentioned how surprised he is by the patience of people waiting to move into finished units. Honestly, everything he invested in stateside fell apart. He admits he bears some blame too; "if everything you touch turns out wrong, you've gotta be talented at it," he joked.
Ivanišević insists he never handed out bribes, but he claims that in the American construction industry, you can't even build a doghouse without paying someone off. His mistake was starting to build back in '98 while he was still playing, having no clue how any of it worked. He admitted to the Wimbledon champ that he overpaid his father to manage things, and they both ended up trusting the wrong people.
He's already certain there won't be any profit from the Firulama project, and he won't know the true extent of the deficit until everything is finalized. He's also planning to sell the private house he was building for himself near Meje in Miami.
He found it pretty ridiculous when a court order stopped him from building a wall, especially since, in his view, the judge never even stepped foot on the property. Now that the ruling was overturned on appeal, he's planning to get back to building.
Between neighbor disputes and constant lawsuits, Ivanišević made the tough call to just sell everything. He said it’s actually pretty rough for him to head back to Miami, since he hasn't been there in six and a half months. What hits him hardest, though, are the endless rumors, mostly aimed at his daughter Amber.
He isn't saying he's bankrupt—he's still making money playing—but he's certain he would've been much wealthier if he hadn't invested back home. According to Time's estimates, Ivanišević earned just under $20 million during his tennis career.
He believes the US will be a powerhouse in 15 or 20 years, but he's done with the business side of things, especially construction.
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 11:50 AM
Even though he officially hung up his racket, our top guy Goran Ivanišević is heading back to the grass courts just to dig himself out of a hole. He says basically every business venture he touched in America went south—including those real estate projects over in Miami near Meje and Firulama that he’s now looking to offload.
"I feel a bit responsible for jumping into industries where there's zero integrity. I walked into this like a kid walking onto a college campus. The sharks just ate me alive," Ivanišević told Time, being totally blunt about his failed investments.
He’s hoping to treat this as a life lesson, though he knows you don't walk away from a shark tank in one piece. Take that apartment building he built in Firulama—it still doesn't even have an access road, even though it should've been wrapped up two and a half years ago. He mentioned how surprised he is by the patience of people waiting to move into finished units. Honestly, everything he invested in stateside fell apart. He admits he bears some blame too; "if everything you touch turns out wrong, you've gotta be talented at it," he joked.
Ivanišević insists he never handed out bribes, but he claims that in the American construction industry, you can't even build a doghouse without paying someone off. His mistake was starting to build back in '98 while he was still playing, having no clue how any of it worked. He admitted to the Wimbledon champ that he overpaid his father to manage things, and they both ended up trusting the wrong people.
He's already certain there won't be any profit from the Firulama project, and he won't know the true extent of the deficit until everything is finalized. He's also planning to sell the private house he was building for himself near Meje in Miami.
He found it pretty ridiculous when a court order stopped him from building a wall, especially since, in his view, the judge never even stepped foot on the property. Now that the ruling was overturned on appeal, he's planning to get back to building.
Between neighbor disputes and constant lawsuits, Ivanišević made the tough call to just sell everything. He said it’s actually pretty rough for him to head back to Miami, since he hasn't been there in six and a half months. What hits him hardest, though, are the endless rumors, mostly aimed at his daughter Amber.
He isn't saying he's bankrupt—he's still making money playing—but he's certain he would've been much wealthier if he hadn't invested back home. According to Time's estimates, Ivanišević earned just under $20 million during his tennis career.
He believes the US will be a powerhouse in 15 or 20 years, but he's done with the business side of things, especially construction.