The former England international striker Michael Owen may have retired eight years ago, but he’s still revered as one of England and Liverpool’s most deadly finishers in front of goal.
Averaging a shade under a goal every other game in his career, which spanned Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and a brief sojourn with Stoke City, Owen has been involved in some of the most lucrative transfer deals of the modern-day era.
He signed for Real Madrid for £8 million in the summer of 2004 and completed another big-money £16.8 million switch from the Bernabeu to Newcastle United one year later.
Having spent a further three years with Manchester United, agreeing a free transfer to the Red Devils in 2009, it begs the question as to how much Owen is worth after hanging up his boots.
According to The Sun, Owen’s overall net worth is just short of £50 million.
If you think that sounds like a lot of money considering that he retired just as the multi-billion-pound riches were pouring into the English Premier League, you’d be right.
However, Owen’s fortune has not been yielded from football alone.
In 2006, he published an autobiography titled “Michael Owen: Off the Record”. Within this book he details the highs and lows of being a professional footballer for some of the biggest clubs in the world.
His later book “Reboot: My Life, My Time” is a more eye-opening read, which goes into more detail about the explosive nature of top-level football behind the scenes.
In 2007, Michael Owen and his partner Louise opted to purchase a cattle barn and convert it into what is now a purpose-built thoroughbred horse racing stable called Manor House Stables.
Located in Cheshire, the conversion was completed with the financial backing of Andrew Black, co-founder of the Betfair sports betting exchange.
He remains a co-owner of Manor House Stables today.
The launch of Manor House Stables saw Owen recruit the services of professional thoroughbred racing trainer Tom Dascombe, who has been a key figure at the helm of the stables ever since.
Owen started out with a training yard of just 30 horses, but by 2010 the stable was accommodating 100 racehorses, with further investment and expansion made in 2012.
Owen says on the official Manor House Stables website that horse racing is a “close third” in his life’s passions, after family and football.
He labelled the “joy” of owning racehorses as “indescribable”, getting a thrill out of “watching them develop” over time into winners. The stables have certainly yielded some winners in their time.
Back in September 2014, Owen’s Brown Panther eventually bagged the stable’s first Group 1 win at the Irish St. Leger. Since then, Brown Panther has also prevailed in the 2015 Dubai Gold Cup and racked up career earnings of £1.11 million.
When you consider one racehorse can earn Owen and co. a seven-figure sum, it’s easy to see why his net worth is so high during life after football.
Manor House Stables has since developed a proud reputation. So much so that many of Owen’s entries are regularly included in the daily tip sheets from expert horse racing tipsters.
Owen is also employed by BT Sport as a regular pundit for both EPL and Champions League televised fixtures.
He became a lead co-commentator for the channel back in 2013, as the station went head-to-head with Sky Sports to provide a fresh alternative for live football coverage.
Although his salary was cut due to the cancellation of many live football fixtures from March 2020, this remains a handy little earner for the Chester-born star, while fulfilling his horse racing dreams.
