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Football's Most Successful Owners & How They Bought Their Clubs

English football is famous, not only among the bettors but also to the world’s billionaires who own the clubs. Unlike how you would assume that only English men own the clubs, you’ll find a good number of foreign billionaires owning the so-called big clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea.

 

It takes a significant amount of money to own, operate, and control a football club. You may not attain the kind of money it takes to own leading Premier League clubs, but you could always play the lottery to get a windfall of cash. With the winnings in your account, you can leave a lavish life and join the wealthy people’s clubs. But as far as football club ownership is concerned, who are the most successful owners, and how did they buy their clubs?

 

4 Richest Club Owners In The World

English football clubs attract prospects from wealthy investors and businesspeople from all over the world. Here are the five most affluent club owners and how they acquired the clubs.

 

Sheikh Mansour- Manchester City FC, $30 billion 

The 48-year-old Emirati national bought the club in 2008 when it was a perennial mid-table side, and over the years, it has grown to become a leader in the Champions League. He comes from a Royal family and he is the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and the Minister of Presidential Affairs. He is also the Chairman of the International Petroleum Investment Company. He doesn’t technically own Man City, but it’s owned by City Football Group, of which Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group holds 86.21% shares. Mansour owns other clubs and businesses, including:

 

– New York City

– Melbourne City 

– Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, which owns the Sky News Arabia

 

Roman Abramovich- Chelsea FC, $12.4 billion

The 52-year-old Russian made most of his money from the metal and oil businesses. Once the richest man in Russia, Roman, is the largest shareholder of Russia’s largest steelmaker, Evraz, and owns stakes in Chelsea FC as well as Norilsk Nickel, which is the world’s largest producer of refined nickel. In 2010, he bought a 533-foot yacht, Eclipse, for $400 million, making him the owner of the second-largest boat in the world. 

 

Stan Kroenke- Arsenal FC, $8.7 billion

The 72-year-old American made most of his wealth from real estate. He married Ann Walton, Walmart heirless, in 1974 and shortly after started real estate firm that builds most of its property close to Walmart establishments. He ventured into sports in the 1990s when he bought Denver Nuggets. In 2007, he started buying shares in Arsenal, and by 2008, he managed to take the football club into private ownership. Despite being one of the wealthiest Premier League club owners, Stan doesn’t like splashing his cash in the club. For the last decade, he didn’t put a penny in the Arsenal, and the club subsisted off its cash flow which includes:

 

– Commercial activities

– Matchdays

– Broadcasting

 

Stan also owns other clubs including:

 

– LA Rams

– NHL’s Colorado Avalanche

– Colorado Rapid’s Soccer Team

 

Nassef Sawiris- Aston Villa, $7.9 billion

The 59-year-old Egyptian came from the wealthiest family in Egypt and became the CEO of Orascom Construction Industries in 1998. In 2015, he split the company into two entities:

 

Orascom Construction which deals with engineering and building

– OCI which is the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers and has plants in Iowa and Texas

 

Sawiris is also the supervisory director in the fashion giant Adidas and has stakes in cement company Lafarge Holcim. In the last few months of last year, his fortune rose by $1.5 billion and reached $7.9 billion. 

 

Bottom Line

Owning a football club has nothing to with money, and as you can see, the most affluent football club owners make filthy riches from other walks of life. Most club owners do it out of passion or due to their strong ties with the community. In cases where club owners have no sentimental attachment with the clubs, they do it as a way of expanding their brands. 

 

Image: PA Images