The six-time Welsh Footballer of the Year sits down for the latest Boardroom Talks to discuss his illustrious career, what he’s doing to stay busy in retirement, how he would build his ideal player, and much more.
Now 36 years old, Bale looks like he’s still in fit playing shape despite being two years into his retirement, which allows him to spend more time with his family and to grow his new career as an entrepreneur, social media pitchman, and avid golfer.
“I’m still happily enjoying my life and not being in that structure where you’re told what to do and where to be and what to eat,” Bale told Boardroom from our New York City office earlier this summer. “Now I can set my own rules. Being a dad and a husband are the little things in life you miss the most when you’re playing. You’re traveling and missing birthdays, football games on the weekend, taking them to school. It’s a big reason why I did stop.”
Bale said he’s gone into commercial real estate and owns some sports bars, and is still a very active brand ambassador with more than 53 million Instagram followers. It allows him to make a good amount of money collaborating with companies like EA Sports, Heineken, Adidas, and Hugo Boss, including getting to hang with Brad Pitt for the Formula 1 movie. His love of golf has allowed him to make friends with world-class athletes like Stephen Curry and Rory McIlroy, helping him become your favorite athlete’s favorite athlete, someone who’s well-liked across many different sports.
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But across all these other sports, no team is more popular than Real Madrid, where Bale had every minute detail of his life followed and scrutinized. He said he always wanted to wear that white jersey ever since he was a kid growing up in Cardiff, where he watched his uncle play for the local club, Cardiff City. Now in League One, England’s third division, Bale would love to see his boyhood club rise back up to the Premier League. It’s why he and a group of investors recently put in a bid to purchase the club, seeing the massive potential it has to return to its old glory.
In the latest edition of Boardroom Talks, Bale also goes into detail of that legendary 2018 final, why he ended his career in Major League Soccer, how golf became such an important part of his life, how he would build his ideal footballer, the best starting XI he’s played with throughout his illustrious career, and whether he could outrun various animals based off his career-best speed.
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