Liverpool has begun their search for a new billionaire owner after Fenway Sports Group put the club up for sale.
Current owners FSG made the shock announcement on Monday, revealing they will be listening to offers after 12 years in charge. But John Henry and co. are unwilling to sell for cheap, with Forbes valuing the Reds at £3.5billion, which is significantly more than the £300million the Americans paid initially.
And with Liverpool supporters, players and staff now eagerly anticipating who will take over at Anfield, here are seven billionaires that could buy the Premier League giants.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is seemingly in the mix whenever there is talk of a big-six Premier League club up for sale. He is worth an estimated £10.1bn, allowing him to own Ligue 1 club Nice, Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport and cycling team Ineos Grenadiers already.
Ratcliffe will be a familiar name to fans of Chelsea after expressing his interest in buying the Blues from Roman Abramovich earlier this year. But he failed in his pursuit as Todd Boehly took over, before going on to state that he wanted to buy Manchester United if the Glazers decided to sell.
Muhsin Bayrak
Turkish billionaire Muhsin Bayrak is worth a whopping £8bn as a result of his company – AB Group Holding – which has its fingers in tourism, cryptocurrency, and construction. He was another big name linked to purchasing Chelsea earlier this year as Abramovich flew to Turkey to meet him.
Despite claiming “we will fly the Turkish flag in London soon”, Bayrak was beaten to the west London club by Boehly. But Liverpool, who like Chelsea have recently won Premier League and Champions League titles, could tempt the business mogul into making another ambitious move.
Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan
Liverpool vs Manchester City would certainly make for an even more exciting clash if Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan took over the Reds. That’s because he is the cousin of the City’s billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour.
The Abu Dhabi royal already attempted an unsuccessful £2bn takeover of Liverpool in 2018, which at the time would have broken the record for the most expensive buyout of a football club.
Sheikh Khaled’s most recent endeavors involved offering £350m for Newcastle in 2019 until talks fell through and being linked with buying Derby County.
Billy Beane
We may as well just call the list the ‘Chelsea rejects’ at this point because American Billy Beane teamed up with US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners in an attempt to buy the Blues this year.
Beane, who was a baseball player before revolutionizing the sport with his ‘Moneyball’ philosophy as a general manager, is a Liverpool owner already – possessing an 11% stake in FSG. Selling the club to an associate could be the most straightforward step for John Henry.
LeBron James
NBA legend LeBron James’ love for Liverpool is well-known. The Los Angeles Lakers star regularly talks about the Reds’ progress and took a leap into football ownership by purchasing a 2% stake in the club 11 years ago.
LBJ became a minority partner of FSG in March 2021 as he strengthened his ties to the Anfield club with business pals Maverick Carter and Paul Wachter. Yet even ‘King James’ cannot afford to carry out a wholesale takeover, with his net worth only being around £1bn.
Elon Musk
Arguably the name that would cause the biggest storm if they were to take over is new Twitter owner Elon Musk. The 51-year-old certainly has enough money, reportedly being worth a whopping £175bn.
Musk, who grew to prominence with Tesla and SpaceX, has already expressed his interest in football ownership, tweeting back in August: “Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome.”
We can’t help but wonder what Anfield would look like with Musk at the wheel…
Sir Martin Broughton
Sir Martin Broughton failed to purchase his favorite football team, Chelsea, this year. His consortium was set to receive financial backing from the US firm Creative Artists Agency but it was not to be in the end.
He will be a familiar name to Liverpool supporters already, having briefly been the Reds’ chairman in 2010 and brokered their eventual sale to FSG.
Popular activist and social critic, VeryDarkMan, has raised concerns about the hacking of his NGO account, which led to the diversion of N160 million.
In a video shared on his verified Instagram account on Friday, he revealed that the incident had left him feeling distressed in recent days.
He explained that the funds were stolen after hackers allegedly gained access to the NGO’s website. The compromised account, which initially contained N180 million, now holds only N20 million.
He mentioned that law enforcement agencies had tracked one of the suspects, resulting in an arrest.
To address the situation, he stated that the NGO’s app had been temporarily taken offline for maintenance to prevent further vulnerabilities.
He said, “For the past few days, I’ve not been myself. I am here with Officer Joe, and we are going to Jos. NGO money—somebody stole the money. Somebody hacked into the NGO website, and I don’t know how they did it. N180 million is missing, but thank God we have tracked the person, and we are on our way to Jos.
“They have arrested one person, and that is why I’m even saying it now. I’m excited, and the account has been put on PND. The account now has N20 million, while N160 million has been diverted to another account. We are currently going there to see how we can get the money back. I just want to update you people.
“I even had to shut down the app and put it on maintenance so that people will not really see what is going on, but let me just come out plain and tell everyone what is going on. Hopefully, we will get the money back.”
The NGO, which launched in October, gained significant attention after raising over N21 million within 24 hours of its inception.
The initiative, aimed at transforming Nigeria’s public education system, attracted support from prominent figures, including music producer Don Jazzy.
As IGP Commends Officers For Vigilance, Commitment To Safety
In furtherance of the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM., to commands and formations to emplace unalloyed anti crime strategies towards ensuring adequate safety and security during this festive period, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force across several states in the country have successfully apprehended multiple groups of armed robbers, cultists and hoodlums targeting fun seekers and engaging in gangsterism during Christmas celebrations.
On the 25th of December 2024, at about 1am, the police operatives attached to Lagos State Command, received a distress call that a group of hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons was operating around the Safejo area of Amukoko, Lagos State. The swift response by the police operatives to the scene led to the arrest of 3 of the suspected hoodlums identified as Emmanuel Okoli ‘m’, 20 years, Ogunde Tejiri ‘m’, 20 years, and Emmanuel Orji ‘m’, 18 years, and also the recovery of the weapons they had used in carrying out robbery attacks on innocent funseekers in the area. The police have emplaced intensified searches to apprehend the fleeing members of the gang.
In a similar development, Police Operatives attached to Saminaka Division of the Kaduna State Command on 25th December 2024, at about 8pm, successfully apprehended one Sule Muhammad ‘m’, 25 years, who has been actively involved in multiple kidnapping incidents within the Saminaka area. Further investigation led to the recovery of a fabricated AK-47 rifle from the suspect. The suspect confessed to being a member of a notorious kidnapping gang who had been evading arrest since the arrest of other gang members on August 16, 2024, until his recent arrest on 25th December 2024. Following cooperation received from Muhammad, efforts are in top gear to apprehend other members of his gang and recover more arms and ammunition in their identified camp. Commendable efforts of the Nigeria Police Operatives have also been witnessed in states including Delta, Ogun Katsina, Benue, FCT and Imo, leading to the arrests of several suspects in various locations during the Christmas celebration period.
The IGP has commended the officers involved in these operations for their vigilance and commitment to public safety, highlighting their display of exemplary dedication in safeguarding our communities, especially during this joyful season. The IGP urges the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the authorities.
The IGP further assures citizens that the Force is fully committed to creating a safe environment for everyone as they partake in the joy and cheer of the holiday season. As the celebrations continue, the Nigeria Police Force remains steadfast in its mission to protect all citizens and ensure that the spirit of festivities during this period remains unmarred by criminal activities.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former governor of Kano state, stated that the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) will reduce the influence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Speaking on Wednesday at a meeting with party stakeholders in Tsanyawa LGA of the state, Kwankwaso mentioned that the NNPP aims to ensure the APC receives fewer than 15,000 votes in the 2027 elections.
In the 2023 governorship election, the NNPP garnered 1,019,602 votes, the APC secured 890,705 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came third with 15,957 votes.
Kwankwaso emphasized that the NNPP achieved the “remarkable feat” of over one million votes despite being a new political platform and starting its campaign late.
“Now, it’s our turn to diminish APC’s influence. We will work tirelessly to ensure their votes are reduced to less than 15,000 in Kano come 2027,” Kwankwaso stated.
Kwankwaso, who was the NNPP’s presidential candidate in 2023, urged his supporters to stay united and focused to ensure the party’s success in future elections.