The young British ball boy who was famously kicked in the side by star UK footballer Eden Hazard now has an estimated net worth of $77 million, a decade on from the controversial incident.
Footage went viral in 2013 of a young Charlie Morgan at a League Cup semi-final between Swansea and Chelsea football clubs, in the UK.
Swansea was leading 2-0 and Morgan, then-17, tried to hold onto the ball by laying on top of it in the 80th minute.
Chelsea player Hazard tried to retrieve the ball and kicked the youngster, who then proceeded to roll around on the sideline clutching his ribs.
Hazard was handed a red card, sent off the pitch and hit with a three-game ban in the bizarre incident that played out on live TV.
He later apologised for his conduct, saying: “The ball boy came in the changing room and we had a quick chat. I apologised and the boy apologised as well, and it is over. Sorry.”
Eleven years later, Mr Morgan has had quite the turnaround from his days as a viral meme.
He is the son of Swansea’s director, millionaire businessman Martin Morgan, and set up the Au Vodka company with his mate Jackson Quinn.
The candy-coloured booze, which comes in shiny gold bottles and a variety of flavours, landed the pair on British newspaper The Times’s rich list.
The publication named Au Vodka the brand to watch out for in 2023, having placed Mr Morgan and Mr Quinn at number 24 on the Young Rich List.
Mr Morgan’s net worth was estimated to be £40 million (A$77 million).
In yet another bizarre twist, Mr Morgan and Hazard reunited this week and appeared to mend fences after the 2013 fiasco.
Hazard, who is now retired, posted a photo of them enjoying glasses of neon blue Au Vodka.
“A nice thing about retirement is catching up with old friends. You have come a long in way in 11 years my friend,” he wrote.
Mr Morgan talks often about his time as the infamous ball boy, having said it propelled him to make a new name for himself.
“The ball boy incident was a crazy night and let’s be honest it’s something that will be remembered for a long time,” he told the Daily Mail in 2022.
“For me, a big part of creating Au Vodka and trying to make a success of this brand was to not just be known as ‘that Swansea ball boy’, but for people to see that that ball boy went on to create something really special.”
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