For athletics fans, the 2000 Sydney Olympics 10,000m race is etched in their memories.
Long-distance legends, Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat gave the world a spectacular show in which Haile overtook Paul at the finish line beating him by a slim 0.09 seconds.
Painful as it was, the Kenyan legend Paul Tergat took the loss in his stride embracing and congratulating Haile immediately after the race.
Paul’s show of sportsmanship was a clear contrast to a 10,000m race 8 years earlier when another Kenyan, Josphat Machuka, on being overtaken in the last seconds, punched Haile on the back sending him staggering to the finishing tape.
Anyway, when the Ethiopian legend hung his running shoes in 2015, he carried with him his work ethic, tenacity, patience, and grit into the business world.
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Early Life and Athletics Career
Haile was born on April 18, 1973, in Ethiopia’s Arsi Province to his mother Ayelech Degtu, and father Gebrselassie Bekele, both subsistent farmers who raised a big family of ten children.
From an early age, Haile ran 20 kilometers to school every day in all sorts of weather, making him realize that he was gifted and deciding from the onset that he would pursue a career in athletics.
A teenage Haile would move in with his brothers in Addis Ababa where there were better opportunities to train and compete.
The brothers; Assefa Gebrselassie and Tekeye Gebrselassie were already marathon runners in the city.
His first professional competition, at just age 15 was Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila marathon where he finished 99th in 2:48 hours.
A 19-year-old Haile would announce his arrival on the international stage at the 1992 World Junior Championships in Seoul, South Korea when he won both the 5,000m and 10,000m races.
From there on, he would dominate long-distance running in a career spanning 25 years winning two Olympic gold medals and breaking 27 world records, and 61 Ethiopian national records.
As of 2024, he is one of only 5 athletes who have successfully defended the gold medal in the Olympic 10,000m race.
His other career highlights include; winning four consecutive 10,000m world championships, breaking the 5,000m world record four times, winning four consecutive Berlin Marathon titles, and three consecutive Dubai Marathons.
The building of a business empire
Right from the beginning of his athletics career, Haile went to work on his business portfolio.
His first investment was a small building in the early 1990s that earned him about $200 a month in rental income.
The more prize money, appearance fees, and brand endorsement contracts he won, the more he invested.
Defying numerous injuries and lifelong asthma, Gebrselassie ran in more than 300 competitions, earning millions in prize money and appearance fees that ranged from $15,000 to $1.5 million per race/marathon.
Some of his notable career earnings include; US$ 1.25 million in prize money at the 2008 Dubai Marathon, US$ 1 million in prize money at the 2002 Qatar Road Race, and US$ 350,000 in appearance fees at the 2002 London Marathon
Others are US$ 400,000 for record, prize, and appearance fee at the 2007 Berlin Marathon and US$ 400,000 appearance fee at the 2010 New York City Marathon.
Throughout his running career Haile also signed several lucrative endorsement deals with global brands like Adidas, Diageo, and ZTE mobile.
Haile Gebrselassie’s businesses
From his elegant offices on the eighth floor of Haile and Alem Plaza, one of his Addis Ababa high-rise office blocks, Haile runs a business empire that has a strong foothold in Ethiopia’s hospitality, agriculture, automotive, and real estate industries.
Hospitality
For a man who spent decades of his running career staying in some of the best hotels around the world, investing in the untapped Ethiopia’s hospitality industry was a no-brainer.
Haile’s hospitality sector portfolio includes;
- Haile Grand Resort
The iconic five-star hotel, located at the heart of Addis Ababa, sits on 37 acres and was constructed at a cost of US$ 50 million.
The hotel consists of; 157 rooms, 4 restaurants, 2 private dining rooms, 4 bars, a pastry and coffee shop, a cultural food hall, 8 conference halls, a health and beauty center, a pool, a gym, and a 200-car parking lot.
- Hawassa Hotel and Resort
Popular with local and international tourists, this four-star hotel constructed on 7.5 acres on the shores of Lake Hawassa, some 270 kilometers from Addis Ababa, was Haile’s first hospitality project.
- Yaya Village High Altitude Training Centre
Set 8,800 feet above sea level, this 4-star resort offers elite and developing athletes the ideal training ground with a 1K dirt running loop, a hotel, restaurant, 40 ensuite rooms, gym, and a physiotherapy room
The complex’s location also enables easy access to endless running trails and Kenenisa Bekele’s all-weather track.
- Haile Resort – Arba Minch
Yet another four-star resort overlooking the twin lakes of Abaya and Chamo and the Gamo Gofa mountain chain, which includes Mountain Gugie, the third-highest mountain in Ethiopia.
- Other hotels in the Haile Resorts chain include; Haile Hotel and Resorts – Sodo, Haile Resort – Gondar, and Haile Resort – Adama.
Another of his hotels, Haile Resort – Shashemene closed when it was burnt down when protestors in the Oromia region of Ethiopia targeted properties belonging to non-Oromo.
- Haile Gebrselassie’s hotel projects in various stages of construction include; Haile Hotel and Resorts – Debre Birhan and Haile Hotel and Resorts – Konso.
- Alem Bride City and Spa
One of the most popular Spa’s in Addis Ababa that mainly provides beautification services for brides and grooms
- Alem Cinema
A pioneer in the cinema industry, Alem Cinema has modern screens, and proper speakers and has done its fair share in promoting Ethiopia’s film industry.
- Alem Fitness Center (AFC)
AFC is a state-of-the-art multi-recreational center that is popular with Addis Ababa’s celebrities.
Automotive
- Marathon Motors
Through Marathon Motor Engineering PLC, Haile holds the Ethiopian franchise for South Korean giant Hyundai passenger and commercial vehicles and genuine parts and has over the years won multi-million-dollar tenders to supply fleets for government and non-governmental organizations.
They also own the Ethiopian franchise for Italy’s SAME tractors.
In 2019 Marathon Motors began local assembly of Hyundai Motor Vehicles in Addis Ababa, launching a locally assembled electric Hyundai car in 2020.
Agriculture
- Haile Natural Honey
Targeting the European market, Haile has heavily invested in honey production with his trademark brand Haile Mar (Haile Honey) being sold in select stores in Germany and the Netherlands.
- Haile Coffee
Haile’s daughter, Eden Haile is in charge of the coffee division that runs a 27,000-acre organically-grown coffee farm in Masha Woreda Yeppo Village in Sidamo, Southern Ethiopia, employing more than 600 people and producing over 500 tons of coffee a year.
Haile Coffee is mainly exported to the European markets.
Real Estate
Haile and Alem International owns several skyscrapers in Addis Ababa, most known one buing Alem Building named after his wife.
The group is currently constructing 40,000 square meters of residential apartments for sale and lease.
Education
Haile Gebrselassie owns several private schools in Ethiopia such as ADM Assela School, ADM Bahir Dar School, and Ayelech Degefu Memorial School built in his home village in memory of his mother.
From this vast business empire, Haile earns gross revenue of more than US$ 500 million per annum and employs over 4,000 employees.
Once when comparing his days in athletics to life in business, Gebrselassie had this to say;
“In athletics, you’re dealing with a few people; mostly the coach, the manager, and a pacemaker. On the other hand, my businesses now employ over 4,000 employees. Many people mean more problems. But just like it is with athletics, to succeed in business, you must beat the competition”
Haile Gebrselassie
Haile advises young sportsmen and women to have a plan as early as their talent is discovered.
Reflecting on why some African sportsmen and women wallow in poverty after retirement or injury, Haile notes that many a times it is due to poor planning.
“After you win a race; money, fame, and relatives follow. If you did not plan what to do with the money, it will run away faster than you”.
Political ambitions
In 2015 when the ‘Emperor’ (as most of his Ethiopian fans call him), first expressed interest in pursuing a political office, specifically Member of Parliament, his fans coined the slogan, “Gebrselassie for president, Yichalal”
The word ‘Yichalal’ means ‘it is possible,’ or ‘it can be done’, and has been used by Gebrselassie over the years to affirm himself during his athletic conquests.
He would however shelve these political ambitions to the relief of his family who discouraged him from entering the ‘murky’ side of leadership preferring that he preserve his societal status as the country’s most loved sportsman.
He would however briefly serve as the president of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation for two years between 2016 and 2018.
Gebrselassie is also a member of a group called “the elders” who are trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Tigray between the armed group TPLF and the government.
Whether he will one day plunge himself into the world of politics, remains to be seen.
But in the global world of athletics and business, Haile Gebrselassie contributions has been awe-inspiring.
