During his time at FC Bayern and FC Chelsea, Michael Ballack was considered one of the highest-earning footballers in the Bundesliga and Premier League
Source: pa / SvenSimon / Frank Hoermann / SVEN SIMON
Dhe ratings hit “Lion’s Cave” starts with a surprise. From April there will be a new season of the popular TV show. Around six weeks before the start, the broadcasting station “Vox” revealed new details about the upcoming season. And a real bang became known.
Former national team captain and football legend Michael Ballack will act as founder. The 98-times DFB player will appear in front of the investors, the so-called “lions”. The “lions” will once again be Carsten Maschmeyer, former Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg, Ralf Dümmel, Dagmar Wöhrl, Nils Glagau, Judith Williams and Georg Kofler. However, it remains a big mystery as to which company or product Ballack will present to investors.
Ballack isn’t the first prominent athlete to take part in the hit show. Handball goalkeeper Jogi Bitter (39) was already a founder in 2020. Together with ex-hockey player Christian Monzel, Bitter had developed “drinkbetter”, a power drink with valuable ingredients. They offered 20 percent of their company shares for an investment of 200,000 euros. After the pitch, two offers were on the table. Carsten Maschmeyer and retail mogul Ralf Dümmel contributed EUR 300,000 for 30 percent of their company shares in the Bitter and Monzel business idea.
Ballack’s first public appearance after his son’s death
The first episode of “The Lion’s Den” ran on August 19, 2014 on “Vox”. Since then, a total of 100 episodes have aired over ten seasons plus two specials. The show is an offshoot of the British show “Dragons’ Den”, which has now been adapted in numerous countries.
Ballack is one of the most famous German footballers of the 90s and 2000s. He played 98 games for the German national team from 1999 to 2010 and was their team captain from 2004. He took part with her in two World Cups (2002, 2006) and three European Championships (2000, 2004, 2008), reaching a World Cup and a European Championship final. He was named Germany’s footballer of the year three times (2002, 2003, 2005).
On August 5th, a world collapsed for Ballack and his ex-wife Simone Ballack. At 2:07 a.m., their 18-year-old son Emilio had an accident with his quad and succumbed to his serious injuries. Emilio would have turned 19 on September 19th. Ballack wrote on Instagram: “The fact that you are no longer here only makes me love you all the more.”
