Topline
A consortium that includes Jeff Bezos is nearing a deal to buy a roughly one-third stake in Liverpool F.C., Sky News reported Monday, potentially making the Amazon founder the latest billionaire to acquire equity in a sports franchise.
Key Facts
A consortium of investors, led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, includes Bezos and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, Sky News reported.
Their combined investment would value Liverpool at $6 billion, and an announcement about a transaction is reportedly expected as soon as this week.
Forbes ranked Liverpool the fourth-most-valuable soccer team globally at a $6.2 billion valuation, behind fellow Premier League member Manchester United ($7.2 billion), Barcelona ($7.5 billion) and Real Madrid ($9.5 billion).
Neither Liverpool nor Fenway Sports Group, the investment group that owns the club, immediately responded to Forbes’ requests for comment.
forbes valuation
Bezos is the third-richest person in the world, with a fortune estimated at $280.6 billion as of Monday morning. Saverin, who co-founded Facebook with Harvard classmate and fellow billionaire Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, ranks the world’s 67th-richest with an estimated net worth of $33 billion. Mittal, executive chairman of steel mining giant ArcelorMittal, has a fortune estimated at $33.6 billion.
tangent
Bezos was last linked to a deal for the Seattle Seahawks and reportedly expressed interest in buying the NFL franchise as early as 2019. The Seahawks sold last month to an investment group led by billionaire Vinod Khosla for $9.6 billion, a record for an NFL franchise.
key background
Bezos’ potential involvement in Liverpool follows a string of billionaires pouring funds into sports teams. An investment group that includes billionaire and former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban acquired a minority stake in the Athletics last month, but it’s unclear how much the equity is valued at. Tom Dundon, who acquired a majority stake in the Carolina Hurricanes in 2018, purchased the Portland Trail Blazers for $4 billion in March. Mark Walter bought the Los Angeles Lakers for a record $10 billion last year, following the $6.1 billion deal for the Boston Celtics by a Bill Chisholm-led group.