From the moment that the majority of professional football clubs became public limited companies, a weird epidemic has come over some of the men considered to be the richest in the world. Buying a football team has become a fad, such as acquiring a mansion, a yacht or a plane; it all depends on the money you are willing to shell out to acquire large clubs that are part of the history of this sport.
Clubs that function as if they were companies, with their boards of directors, their annual shareholders' meeting, their CEO and a corporate network in which Arab sheiks, Russian magnates, American businessmen and Asian millionaires participate. Today we are going to talk about some of the clubs controlled by the richest in the Universe.
Carlos Slim controls the destiny of Real Oviedo
Carlos Slim, the 77-year-old Mexican businessperson and owner of the Carso real estate group is, according to the latest report by Forbes magazine, the sixth richest man in the world, with an estimated fortune of 50,000 million Euros. One of their avowed passions is football, which is why he is the largest shareholder in the Mexican clubs Pachuca and León, and since November 2012, of the Spanish team Real Oviedo, currently in the second division; a historical team that was in existence 91 years and whose economic problems in 2012 led them being on the verge of disappearance. Slim bought shares in the club totalling 11 million Euros, until becoming a majority shareholder, easing the extreme situation of the Asturian club, reducing its debt and at the time, fighting for the promotion to first division.
Sheikh Mansour is the owner of Manchester City that Guardiola trains
But if Carlos Slim opened the door to the arrival of foreign capital and purchase of clubs in Spain, it is in England where this practice has been extended significantly in recent years. The Arab Sheikh Mansour, memeber of the Abu Dhabi governing family that governs and with a fortune estimated at 20,000 million Euros, is the owner of Manchester City (the Guardiola, Agüero and Silva team). At 46, this particular politician and member of the Supreme Petroleum Council, also owns the Australian team Melbourne City and the American team New York City, of the Major League (chaired by the Spanish Ferrán Soriano and where the Asturian footballer David Villa plays).
Stanley Kroenke is the owner of the Arsenal
Stanley Kroenke, a 69-year-old Missouri billionaire, paid 900 million Euros for 66% of the shares of the London team Arsenal, the Wenger, Bellerin and Cazorla team. Kroenke is a real estate business mogul, owner of "Sports Illustrated" and with a fortune of 11,000 million Euros has as passion for buying sports clubs, so, in addition to the English Arsenal, he owns ST Louis Rams (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL) and Colorado Rapids (MLS).
Francois Pinault is the majority shareholder of the Stade Rennais
Outside of England, the phenomenon of billionaires buying up football clubs is also common; in France, Francois Pinault, owner of 60 companies, including Puma, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, who, at 55 years old, is the majority shareholder of the Stade Rennais (Breton team of Ligue 1 with 116 years of history). Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a former Qatari tennis player and current president of Bein Sports, has been the owner of Paris Saint Germain since October 2011, thanks to his fortune estimated at 12,000 million Euros.
Nasser Al- Khelaifi is the owner of Paris Saint Germain
In Italy, Inter is owned by Indonesian Erik Thobir, who in 2013 bought 70% of the club's shares for 270 million Euros, and quite recently, Silvio Berlusconi sold Milan (7 European Cups) to Chinese businessperson Li Yonghong for 740 million Euros.
Lakshmi Mittal also chairs Queens Park Rangers
In Austria, Croatian tycoon Dietrich Mateschutz, founder of Red Bull and owner of the Formula 1 team, is also the owner of Salzburg; and in England, Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, president and CEO of Mittal Steel Company, the world's largest steel producer, runs the Queens Park Rangers.
Peter Lim runs Valencia from a distance
Spain is not lagging behind in this boom, although the two most powerful, Real Madrid and Barcelona, maintain their status as they are not corporations, although other clubs are already in the hands of foreign capital. In addition to the afore-mentioned Carlos Slim in Oviedo, Valencia is owned by the powerful Singapore man, Peter Lim, who since 2014 has had a 82% controlling stake for which he paid 94 million Euros.
Malaga is controlled by Qatari Sheikh Al Thani
Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani, Sheikh, a member of the Qatari royal family, has been the biggest shareholder and president of Malaga since 2010. Chen Yasheng, Chinese businessperson, owner of the Rastar Group company, toys and videogames manufacturer, as well as executive director of the Chinese Association of listed companies, is since January 2016, president and owner of Espanyol in Barcelona; Wang Jialin, one of the richest men in China with a fortune estimated at 24,000 million dollars, thanks to the Wanda Group business conglomerate, participates in the management of the club and owns 20% of the Atlético de Madrid club shares, for which he paid 40 million Euros.
Chen Yasheng owns a large fortune in China
Passion for football or simple business?. What seems clear is that football is a source of power, a platform for success, with a clear vocation for growth, which begins to distort the old relationship of empathy between fans and owners. This is why we say that football will always be passion, but, more than ever, today it is an attractive business proposition.
