Forbes has a story on billionaire soccer owners that is worth the read. Also mentions the reported rumors of Anschutz and whether or not he will be buying Newcastle. Make sure you check out the gallery of billionaire soccer owners. Lastly, did you know that QPR is owned not only by Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, but also by Lakshmi Mittal! All I have to say about that is wow…
Check the story here.
“Own the Club, Pick the Team” - That was the mantra for 37 year old Will Brooks who in 2007 set up internet website experiment MyFootballClub.co.uk that asked the simple question, how many people would be interested in putting their money together to buy a team and vote on every decision from the starting 11 to colors of the uniform?
Brooks got his answer when when more than $400,000 was raised on the first day of public registration that would eventually lead to the ownership of Blue Square Premiership side Ebbsfleet United.
image via Farm3
It looks as if one of South Africa’s largest Gold Mining Company, Central Rand Gold might be on the verge of purchasing Premiership side Portsmouth in a 70 Million Pound bid.
Chief Executive Greg James has held a series of meetings with Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak over the purchase of the club from Devondale Investments, the holding company in charge of Pompey that would see the 32 Million Pound debt would be wiped clean.
image via TheCapitalGoldGroup
DC United Co - Managing Partners Will Chang and Victor MacFarlane have taken the impressive step of directly engaging the fans through Behind The Badge, the Official Blog of DC United.
Dear D.C. United Fan,
As the season has come to a close, we want to share a few decisions and update you, our fans – the very best fans and supporters in major league sports.
What would you do if you were the sixth richest person on the planet with an estimated fortune of $42 b-b-b-b-billion? Well if you are Anil Ambani and you want to keep up with the latest billionaire hobby, you look at buying a team in the English Premier League. Word around the campfire is that Ambani has his eyes set on taking over Everton. It’s no secret that Kenwright is looking for a new, deep pocketed suitor to come in and help Everton challenege the bigger, richer clubs. Could Ambani be Kenwright’s guy?
Oh, on a side note, his brother Mukesh is worth slightly more $$$ than Anil, with an estimated fortune of $43 billion (whats a billion amongst billionaires anyway?). The brothers had a pretty big, public split after their father’s death, split their fathers company in half and pretty much don’t like each other. Imagine two brothers worth a combined $88 billi! Oh, and if you haven’t seen the 60 story (yes I said 60) house that Mukesh is building for himself. Apparently the house is costing $1 billion to $2 billion to build. Check out some pictures after the jump.
Everyday there seems to me more speculation and rumors surrounding Mike Ashley, Newcastle and a new billionaire interested in taking the clubs off Ashley’s hands. Today that billionaire is Kuwaiti businessmen Nasser Al Kharafi. According to Forbes (2007) Al Kharafi was the 52nd richest cat in the world with an estimated fortune of $11.5 billion, but it looks like the ridiculous price tag that Ashley has put on the club is preventing the deal with any of the previously mentioned billionaires from happening.
American billionaire and Arsenal shareholder, Stan Kroenke, has been appointed to the board at Arsenal. Kroenke who owns 12.38% of the Gooners was once looked upon by the Arsenal board in a pretty negative manner. In fact it was hin introduction to Arsenal by David Dein that eventually helped lead to Dein stepping away as vice-chairmen. But ever since the Russian Alisher Usmanov has been increasing his holding in Arsenal, the outlook on Kroenke has improved. Looks like this appointment might be to block Usmanov from taking over the club.
More Newcastle United chatter. Looks like there are two Dubai companies interested in taking Newcastle off of Mike Ashley’s hands. ESPN is reporting that Zabeel Investments and DIC seem to be the two firms expressing interest in Newcastle, although the current price tag seems incredibly inflated. I said it earlier, but it seems that soccer clubs are the new trophy wives for the super super rich.
Lots of attention has been given to th erecent Manchester City takeover by ADUG. It’s understandable because that type of money can change the way business is done in the sport. As a result, our old pal Harry Redknapp has gone on the record and given his thoughts as to what this means for managers of English clubs.
“It’s not a case of if but when. Trust me, the billionaire owners who are buying up football clubs want a far greater say.
They don’t just want to own a football club, they want to go out and choose who plays for them as well.
The day is coming when a manager will have little or no input into who is bought or sold. It’s like that abroad and you can see more and more clubs going down that route as wealthier individuals take control.
Foreign clubs like Real Madrid and some of the top Italian sides have been working like that for years.
The only function a manager has is to select his team and coach them. The problem with that is when it all goes wrong on the pitch it’s the manager who gets fired for other people’s decision-making.”
Having endless funds at your disposal is great, but having the money and making the right choices with the money are two different things. Lots of changes on the horizon for our sport…
[Mirror]
Bill Kenwright, aka the Chairman of Everton Football Club has publicly stated that they need to find themselves a billionaire owner. Lots of big time money has been flowing into the Premier League, capped off with ADUG taking over Manchester City. Kenwright believes stated that “the club has always punched above its weight”, but that they can’t go on with the financial constraints they have. He goes on to say “I want Everton to have a billionaire, but it is not me. My shares have been for sale from the day I bought in.” When I first read this article I was going to call Kenwright out for wanting to sell his shares and bring in someone else. It seemed to me that he was looking for an easy way out and an easy way to make a lot of scratch off the sale. Then I started reading that Kenwright is a lifelong Everton fan and that he is only one of two Premier League chairmen to not take a salary. Sounds like the dude really loves the club and that he has the best interests of Everton Football Club at heart. So does this mean the only option for club owners is to sell to a bajillionaire?
Kind of looking that way….what do you guys think of all this?
