Photos by AP Images
- The Premier League currently has 12 billionaire club owners including The Glazer Family, Roman Abramovich, and Stan Kroenke.
- Combined they are worth an astonishing $90.8 billion, according to Forbes.
- Private investment firms, sports brands, and royal inheritance are just some of the sources of money for the Premier League’s richest.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Russian entrepreneur Roman Abramovich kick-started a new wave of overseas billionaires buying Premier League soccer clubs when he purchased Chelsea FC from Ken Bates in 2003.
Ever since, the clubs in England’s top division have become attractive prospects for weathly investors, with businesspeople all over the world keen to help themselves to a slice of the Premier League pie.
There are now 12 billionaires who own Premier League clubs — all of whom Business Insider has ranked by their net worth according to Forbes and The Sunday Times.
We’ve also explained how each club owner made their fortunes.
Katharina Liebherr and Gao Jisheng of Southampton FC have been excluded from the list because Liebherr sold 80% of her shares in the club to Jisheng in 2017, and the Chinese businessman’s net worth is currently unclear having just lost control of his real-estate company, Lander Sports, according to the Financial Times.
Technicalities aside, here is the Premier League’s richest billionaires in ascending order.
12: Everton FC owner Farhad Moshiri — $1.9 billion
Photo by Reuters — Jason Cairnduff
Age: 64.
Nationality: Iranian.
How he made his fortune: Trained as a chartered accountant at University College London, Moshiri and his business partner, Alisher Usmanov, hold shares in mining and steel manufacturing giant Metalloinvest, and Russian wireless operator Megafon.
Moshiri and Usmanov also used to hold 14.65% of the shares in Arsenal, before Moshiri sold his part to help fund his takeover of Everton.
Record signing: Gylfi Sigurdsson — $53.8 million (Swansea City, 2017).
11: Liverpool FC owner John Henry — $2.7 billion
Photo by AP Images — Charles Krupa
Age: 69.
Nationality: American.
How he made his fortune: After building a successful trading firm in the 1980s, Henry began to invest the money he had earned into sports teams.
Henry held shares in Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, and the New York Yankees amongst others, before taking over Liverpool in October 2010. He is also the principal owner of baseball team Boston Red Sox.
Record signing: Virgil van Dijk — $92.2 million (Southampton, 2017).
10: Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley — $2.9 million
Photo by Reuters — Eddie Keogh
Age: 54.
Nationality: English.
How he made his fortune: Ashley opened his first sports gear shop in 1982 using a $12,000 loan from his family.
Today, he’s the owner of the UK’s largest sporting goods retailer, Sports Direct, which has over 400 stores across the country. He also owns clothing line Jack Wills, department store chain House of Fraser, and high street gaming chain GAME.
Record signing: Joelinton — $47.9 million (TSG Hoffenheim, 2019).
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – blane@businessinsider.com (Barnaby Lane)