The unpaid debts Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins is liable for, after running into serious financial problems through his companies, are now close to £2 million, around double what was previously estimated.
It appears the trademark of his name and his 'Wiggo' nickname will be sold in a bid to raise money after he has already lost other assets and was declared bankrupt earlier this year.
But even though the issues he has already faced are very difficult, Wiggins still has a period of two years ahead of him in which the legal and financial process around his financial collapse will continue to unfold.
Wiggins is the former TT world champion, won five Olympic golds and claimed seven track world titles. He was worth £13 million as recently as 2017. However, he entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in 2022, designed to ensure he becomes debt free.
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Before he was declared bankrupt during the summer, the auditing company MHA filed documents with Companies House which stated Wiggins Rights Ltd faced claims of almost £1 million.
However, an update in recent weeks - by Georgian Eason of MHA - stated the claims had reached almost £2 million in the period to mid September.
"During the period under review, the directors IVA has been terminated, and a bankruptcy petition has been granted," the update said. "I have submitted the company's increased claim in the bankruptcy proceedings to the sum of £1,976,157.73.
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"I have identified that the company holds the legal title to a small number of trademarks. During the period under review, my agents have identified an interested party and are presently seeking to discuss a proposed sale."
That trademarks that could be sold include 'Bradley Wiggins', 'Wiggins', and 'Wiggo' and the process is likely to take two more years.
Wiggins told the Lance Armstrong podcast during the summer he should have paid more attention to his finances while still racing. He added the complex structure of companies he was linked to - and how they connected to each other - had caused his issues.
He added he also part-funded Team Wiggins with his own money. However, he described as "sensationalist" reports earlier this year that claimed he was sofa surfing.
“I was made bankrupt through a company. I had three companies – my image rights company that handles all my image rights, endorsement deals, various other things," Wiggins told Armstrong.
"Connected to that I joined XIX Entertainment, Simon Fuller, in 2014. And they set up various joint ventures with various clubs and companies, drinks suppliers, all different things, whatever endorsements.
“Off the bottom of that – so these companies were all subsidiaries of the top company, which was my image rights company.
"Now that was done, as we see now through the lawyers, that was done purposefully so the top company would always take the hit if there was any trouble with the other ones. They should have been separate companies.”
