The bragging rights. The needlessly expensive bikes. The Lycra. What is there for a middle-aged man not to love about Ironman Triathlons?
One middle-aged man loves them more than others. Wang Jianlin, one of China’s richest men, has just paid $650m (via his Wanda group) for World Triathlon Corporation, the company that runs Ironman. It is just the latest in a line of sporting trophies for Mr Wang — he also owns one-fifth of Atletico Madrid and Infront Sports & Media, a sports marketing company.
But can a company that runs a few races (even 141-mile ones) really be worth $650m? There are no publicly available figures for sales or profits.