This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
Published on July 16, 2020, Nairobi News featured an article about Ricardo Badoer, the Swedish billionaire behind Wazito FC.
Ricardo Badoer, a Swedish national, is the owner of Kenyan Premier League side Wazito FC. He has a reputation for being a shrewd businessman with interests in various sectors, including banking, real estate, and media.
According to a previous interview, Badoer was born into a Spanish-Iranian family and relocated to Sweden with his mother at the age of nine after his father's death.
As a young man, Badoer made his first million at the age of 20, working as a property agent in Spain. He claims to have made enough money in just one year to buy a rundown house, renovate it, and sell it for a handsome profit.
Today, Badoer is a dollar billionaire, with interests in various sectors, including banking, real estate, media, and equity. He holds major shares at Sumac Microfinance Bank in Kenya and Tanzania-based Hakika Microfinance Bank, where he also sits on the board of directors.
He is also the founder of Badoer Investment Ltd, a company that recently agreed to an equity stake with Uganda's ALTX East Africa Group, a stock exchange firm. Badoer is the founder of a digital currency firm, Aidos Kuneen ADK, founded in 2017, which currently trades on 12 different exchanges.
He is also the founder and CEO of MadGoat TV, a YouTube channel that focuses on Kenyan sports.
Since taking over Wazito FC in December 2018, Badoer has pumped millions of Kenyan shillings into the club, reportedly spending Sh80 million to transform it into the biggest football club in the country.
He is married with three children and lives with his family in Dubai, where he owns several properties.
Big Boss is an avid watch collector, with a collection of over 65 designer watches worth a fortune. He is also infamous for his love of expensive cigars, with his favourite being the Muwat 7 x 70, which costs Sh11,800 per box of 10.
