"You have to think quickly, trust your instincts, and think several moves ahead." Erling Haaland said that about chess. He could just as easily have been describing his entire life right now.
Norway are in the World Cup quarterfinals — genuinely uncharted territory for a nation that has never reached the semi-finals of the men's tournament. And Haaland, at 25, is the reason they're there. The son of former Premier League midfielder Alf-Inge Haaland is now carrying Norway further than any Norwegian footballer ever has. The odds on them going all the way just got a lot more interesting with England standing in their way.
The business of being Haaland
On the field, "The Terminator" earns an estimated $60 million a year — one of the highest athlete salaries on the planet according to Forbes. Off it, he's quietly constructing something more durable than a contract.
His Luxembourg-based investment company, Pillage, spans finance, technology, and real estate. In March 2026, he made an angel investment in Norway Chess, and co-founded Chess Mates alongside Norwegian businessman Morten Borge. Their new venture, the Total Chess World Championship, carries a minimum prize pool of $2.7 million. That's not a celebrity vanity project — that's a real competitive circuit.
He also holds equity in recovery-tech firm Hyperice, Scandinavian luggage brand Db, and a minority stake in Bon Dep, the Norwegian company behind hair tie brand KKNEKKI — which he wears during matches, and whose Haaland-inspired collection he's credited with boosting significantly.
300 goals, a Viking role, and a Birkin collection
Later this year, Haaland will voice an animated version of himself — a Viking warrior simply called "Haaland" — in Viqueens, an adventure-comedy directed by Harald Zwart, the Norwegian filmmaker behind The Karate Kid remake and Agent Cody Banks. It's a strange footnote to one of football's most dominant careers, but it fits the brand.
His property portfolio includes an $8.21 million, 10-bedroom house in Cheshire, a $7 million Marbella mansion, and a $3.5 million Oslo apartment. He collects Hermès Birkin bags — which run tens of thousands of dollars apiece — and drives a rotation of Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi.
On the pitch, the numbers are staggering in a different way: over 300 career goals for club and country, a Premier League single-season scoring record, a Champions League title with Manchester City, and multiple league titles. He arrived at City in 2022 from Borussia Dortmund, having broken through at Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, and hasn't stopped scoring since.
Norway vs. England in a World Cup quarterfinal. Haaland against one of the most recognisable football nations on earth. Whatever happens next, he's already made history — the chess investor, the Viking, the Terminator, all at once.
