Would West Ham United be better off under foreign ownership with unlimited financial backing?: Guest Post by Florida Hammer I’ve been a frequent visitor to this site now for a while and there are often some interesting opinions on WHTID, it can be clearly stated that most folks do not hold back when commenting on this site. Whether it is football, religion or politics there are always varied opinions on here often leading to some spicy discussion. Recently an off-topic discussion centered on foreign ownership; would West Ham United Football Club be better off with a “sugar daddy owner” worth billions rather than the paltry $629 million net worth of principal owner David Sullivan? As fans of a traditional family club how do you feel about selling the West Ham United franchise to a corporate entity, multi-national conglomerate or faceless owner in return for a multi-billion dollar bankroll and unlimited investment potential? The ultimate question remains do we sell our soul to an unknown billionaire devil in return for Champions League Football, a regular shot at the title and cup runs? Before you answer the above questions take a look at the following synopsis of each club with current foreign ownership in the Premier League. See how these principal owners made their fortunes prior to purchasing a majority stake at their respective football clubs. Then decide if this path is the way to move forward and upwards for our beloved Hammers. Arsenal Arsenal is majority owned by American billionaire Stan Kroenke, according to Forbes he is worth approximately $6 billion. Kroenke is married to Wal Mart co-founder Bud Walton’s daughter Ann, he also owns the Denver Nuggets (National Basketball Association), Colorado Rapids (Major League Soccer), Colorado Avalanche (National Hockey League), Colorado Mammoth (National Lacrosse League), and the Saint Louis Rams (National Football League). Kroenke is a sports enterprise and real estate mogul in the USA, but is known as “silent Stan” as he rarely interferes in his teams day to day operations nor does he give many interviews to the press. Aston Villa Aston Villa is owned by Randy Lerner, American businessman who once owned the Cleveland Browns NFL franchise (sold in 2012). Lerner, who is worth approximately $1.5 billion according to Forbes started out in life as a Lawyer, graduating Columbia University in New York (he spent a year at Cambridge in 1983) where he started to develop a passion for proper football. Lerner is a major philanthropist who donates heavily to the National Portrait Gallery and Clare College, Cambridge. The club is currently up for sale as Lerner does not believe he can take them any further. Chelsea Chelsea is owned by the infamous Russian oil baron Roman Abramovich. He has a strong political background as he was once the governor of Chukotka (2000-2008), a peninsular location in the far east of Russia. Abramovich has a multitude of business and political interests and is considered an extremely close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Boris Yeltsin. However, he got his start in business by selling imported rubber ducks from his apartment in Moscow with his first wife Olga. Largely a product of “Perestroika” and the loosening of restrictions in Russia, Abramovich is no stranger to controversy in terms of bribery and corruption charges. He has an estimated fortune of $14.6 billion according to Forbes. Hull City Hull is owned by the Allam family of Egypt (estimated net worth of $982 million), Assam and his son Ehab purchased Hull in 2010 stating a need to pay back the area that adopted him many years ago. Assam fled Egypt and the brutal regime of Gamel Abdel Nasser in 1968 and arrived in East Riding, Yorkshire with barely £20 pounds to his name. He studied Economics at the University of Hull before embarking on his own business interests; his fortune is created primarily on his success with industrial generators (Allam Marine). Recently, Assam Allam shockingly put up his team for sale within 24 hours (as he promised) after the FA refused to allow the football club to be renamed Hull Tigers. Apparently the matter has been forwarded to CAS on appeal by Allam. Leicester City Leicester is owned by Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who amassed his $1.6 billion fortune (per Forbes) as the founder and CEO of King Power Duty Free. Vichai also owns a minority stake in budget airline Nok Air, and is an avid Polo player with ownership in a club outside of Bangkok. Upon winning the Championship title last season Srivaddhanaprabha predicted his team could finish in the top five of the Premiership within three years and he pledged to spend up to £180 million pounds in order to get there. So far Leicester is struggling upon their return to the Premiership and has seen just a mild level of investment in the squad since its return to the top flight of English football. Liverpool Liverpool is owned by American businessman John Henry (worth $1.4 billion per Forbes) and the Fenway Sports Group; which includes the Boston Red Sox (Major League Baseball), the Boston Globe newspaper and part ownership of Roush Fenway racing. Henry bought Liverpool from Tom Hicks and George Gillet Jr. at the end of the 2011 season. However, Henry subsequently fired Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish at the end of the 2012 season despite Liverpool having won the League Cup. Henry is also somewhat of a sports mogul who started out by purchasing a minor league baseball team, over time he has owned the Florida Marlins baseball team and negotiated for the Orlando Magic Basketball team. No matter what he accomplishes in the future Henry will be best remembered for ending the 86 year Major League Baseball championship drought endured by the Boston Red Sox and ending the “curse” of the Bambino (Babe Ruth). Manchester City Manchester City is owned in principal by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Sheikh Mansour) who has an estimated personal fortune worth $31.4 billion; however this is part of a family fortune that is closer to $1 trillion. The majority of the Sheikh’s income derives from the International Petroleum Investment Company & Aabar Investments, which is wholly owned by the Government of Abu Dabhi. Other investments include a stake in Virgin Galactic, Daimler, Tesla Motors, Falcon Private Bank, and XOJET to name just a few. The Sheikh is an accomplished horse rider and has won a number of endurance racing events, in addition to his role as the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE (United Arab Emirates). Manchester United Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family and was purchased initially by the late Malcolm Glazer for his sons Avram and Joel Glazer; the Glazer takeover became official from 2003 to 2005 when he controversially spent the clubs own assets to complete the buyout leaving the club in debt by over £525 million pounds. Joel, along with brothers Bryan and Edward are co-Chairmen of Malcom’s other sports team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL), which has experienced an upswing in fortunes from perennial doormats in the NFL. Since the Glazers took over (they won Super Bowl 37) and have finished with multiple winning seasons. There are six total Glazer children who now share the family fortunes which according to Forbes is $4 billion. The family also owns and operates a real estate holding firm First Allied corporation which is responsible for 6.7 million square feet of shopping mall space over 20 States. Queens Park Rangers QPR is owned by Asian power duo (Malaysian) Tony Fernandes (a self-professed Hammers fan who failed to buy the club in 2011) and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Fernandes is the principal owner with his 66% stake in the club after his purchase of shares owned by Bernie Ecclestone in August 2011. Fernandes is another British educated entrepreneur that got his start with Sir Richard Branson at Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Records. After joining Warner music Fernandes decided to leave the company when the merger with America Online was announced to revive budget, no frills Air Asia which at the time was $11 million in debt. Within a year of takeover Fernandes had cleared all debts and was operating with profits. Fernandes has invested in the Caterham Formula One team, also known as Lotus Racing; his fortune per Forbes is now estimated at $650 million. Southampton Southampton is currently owned by Katharina Liebherr, daughter of the late Markus Liebherr; a German born Swiss entrepreneur and owner of MALI International AG. Markus Leibherr took Southampton out of administration in 2009 when he purchased the club and they started play in League 1. Liebherr had brought in Italian banker Nicola Cortese to run the show. Cortese & Liebherr had a grand vision of making Southampton into a European power. It was Cortese who fired Pardew, brought in Adkins and eventually Pochettino all the while leading the Saints meteoric rise back to the Premier League. Unfortunately Markus would not live to see out his vision of creating a European power in Southampton FC as he died of a heart attack in 2010. But Cortese continued until late October 2013 when a power struggle for MALI International took place with Katharina who took over operations of her father’s company in January of 2014. Liebherr inherited the $3 billion fortune of her father and is now in charge of day to day operations. Sunderland Sunderland is owned by Irish-American businessman Ellis Short, who is based in London and the founder of Kildare Partners (a private equity fund that deals in distressed European real estate). Short started out his career at General Electric but made his reputation at Lone Star Funds in Dallas, Texas. Short has incidentally bought Skibo Castle in Scotland (the location of Madonna’s wedding to Guy Ritchie). His ownership of Sunderland began in 2008 and subsequent firing of Roy Keane (who recently trashed Ellis Short in his biography). Short has hired and fired Steve Bruce, Martin O’Neill and Paulo Di Canio before finally settling on Gus Poyet as his team continue to struggle for survival in the Premier League. Short is a very quiet and unassuming man that prefers to stay out of the limelight, his net worth is estimated at $6.3 billion. bit.ly/1A9SciZ
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 10:04:45 +0000
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