The race to buy Chelsea is on, with Roman Abramovich needing to get rid of the club after the United Kingdom government placed sanctions on him due to his links to Russia president Vladimir Putin.
A number of the world’s richest people have declared their interest, with interested parties needing to submit their proposals before Friday.
Read also: Chelsea to play Champions League home fixtures behind closed doors
Here’s a rundown of the players who have been linked with a potential purchase.
Net worth: £800m-850m, £1.5bn with brother Christian
Main source of income: Real estate
Candy is a British property developer who made his money building homes for the rich in the UK and United States. Alongside brother Christian, he started out in the business in 1995.
They flipped properties during the mid to late 1990s before high profile developments came in the 2000s, including One Hyde Park, NoHo Square and the Chelsea Barracks.
He has been married to Australian actor and singer Holly Valance since 2012 and was the lead fundraiser for Conservative London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey, reportedly donating £100,000 to the party in March 2020.
Hansjorg Wyss
Net worth: £4.36bn
Main source of income: Medical device manufacturer
Wyss is a Swiss billionaire who made his billions as the founder and former chairman of medical device manufacturer Synthes USA. He is now a donor to liberal and environmental causes in the US.
He currently holds stakes in publicly-traded biotech companies and has been described as “among the most philanthropic people in the world”.
Wyss said earlier in March that he had been offered the chance to buy Chelsea, claiming Abramovich was ‘panicking’ and trying to shift his asset ‘quickly’.
He also leads us on to our next prospective buyer nicely…
Todd Boehly
Net worth: £4.7bn
Main source of income: Holding company
Boehly is an American businessperson and investor and the current co-founder, chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries, a holding company.
He holds a 20% stake of baseball team LA Dodgers and led one of the largest collateralised loan obligation transactions in history at over $1bn. This means he essentially took out a loan to buy the Dodgers, using the franchise’s cash to pay for the loan. It’s a similar tactic to the Glazers’ purchase of Manchester United, though it involved a lot more cash.
A consortium led by Boehly and British entrepreneur Jonathan Goldstein is said to be well placed to complete a takeover of Chelsea, with Wyss involved in that group of buyers. It is said to be the most viable option by the Raine Group, the bank brokering negotiations.
British businessperson Sir Martin Broughton has also been mentioned as being involved in the consortium.
Ken Griffin & Ricketts family
Net worth: £3.4bn
Main source of income: Hedge fund/Broker
John Ricketts is an American businessperson and philanthropist. He is the former founder, CEO and chairman of TD Ameritrade, a broker that offers an electronic trading platform for the trade of financial assets. He is the current owner of the Chicago Cubs, the Major League Baseball franchise.
If he and his family were to buy Chelsea, it would be alongside hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin. Griffin is the founder, chief executive office, co-chief investment office and 85% owner of Citadel, a multinational hedge fund.
“The Ricketts Family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, can confirm they will be leading an investment group that will make a formal bid for Chelsea Football Club this Friday,” a spokesperson told Sky News.
Ricketts previously donated at least one $1m in support of Donald Trump, though then donated to a super political action committee which opposed the eventual president.
Muhsin Bayrak
Net worth: £8bn (AB Grup)
Main source of income: Holding group
Bayrak is a Turkish billionaire who claimed earlier in March that his group was close to buying Chelsea, adding: “We will fly the Turkish flag in London soon.”
He made his fortune with AB Grup Holding and has previously invested in construction, energy, tourism and cryptocurrency. He has previously been described as a close friend of Abramovich.
Little is actually known of Bayrak, with his net worth as of yet unverified.
Jamie Reuben
Net worth: £1m-5m
Main source of income: Billionaire father
Reuben is a British businessperson and the son of billionaire investor David Reuben.
He is most famous for being Newcastle’s new co-owner alongside PCP Capital Partners and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Reuben is understood to be among those interested in buying Chelsea and a prospective purchase would be on an individual basis, though any offer would likely use some of his family’s wealth. In 2021, the Reubens were named as the second-richest entity in the UK with a net worth of £21.5bn.
If he were to buy the club, he would need to relinquish control and ties he has with Newcastle.
Saudi Media Group
Net worth: £2.7bn
Main source of income: Media
Saudi Media Group, led by Mohamed Al-Khereiji, is a joint-stock company said to be the biggest media group in the Middle East. They are thought to turn over £770m a year.
The group is reported to have made a £2.7bn bid to buy Chelsea, with Al-Khereiji a Blues fan. He was at the 1-1 draw with Manchester United in November – coincidentally the last time Abramovich was seen at Stamford Bridge.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Net worth: £21.2bn
Main source of income: Chemicals
Ratcliffe is the chairman and CEO of Ineos, the fourth largest chemicals company in the world. He formed the company in 1998 and has been in charge ever since.
He also has plenty of experience in football, unlike some of his competitors for Chelsea. In 2017, he and Ineos bought Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport before grabbing Ligue 1 club Nice two years later.
Ratcliffe is also involved in other sports. He is the principle partner of Sir Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team, and he has also previously partnerred with Sir Ben Ainslie to compete in the America’s Cup, a sailing competition.
However, he has previously played down the prospect of buying Chelsea. In 2020, he said: “We are very comfortable with where we are with Nice actually.
“It’s going quite well, it’s been quite interesting, we are still learning and it is quite a challenging league in France with some very talented players.”
Any others?
There are a couple of others who have thrown their hats into the ring.
MMA fighter Conor McGregor has revealed he’s interested, with his best fighting days seemingly behind him as he ventures more and more into the world of business.
Bernard Antwi Boasiako, a Ghanaian gold mine owner, has also declared his interest. A spokesperson said: “Bernard Antwi Boasiako is exploring a potential offer for Chelsea. Discussions with various parties involved in the sale have taken place.”
