Who is Todd Boehly? American billionaire who leads a successful consortium to buy the Chelsea.
Chelsea announced that a consortium led by the American tycoon Todd Boehly, signed a deal to buy the Premier League club in a record deal worth £ 4.25 billion.
Chelsea have confirmed that the consortium led by Todd Boehly, which is a candidate to take control of the club, signed an agreement to acquire it from Roman Abramovich.
The American billionaire, that is co-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team, has finalized the terms to buy the club together with its partners Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter e Hansjorg Wyss.
The deal was revealed to be worth £ 4.25 billion – a record amount for a sports franchise – after the West London club released a statement in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Of the total investment made, £ 2.5 billion will be applied to purchase the Club’s shares and such proceeds will be deposited into a frozen UK bank account with the intention of donating 100% to charitable causes as confirmed by Roman Abramovich.
UK Government approval will be required for the transfer of proceeds from the UK frozen bank account.
Boehly will be present at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as the post-Abramovich era approacheswith the acquisition now expected to be ratified by the end of the month. But who is Todd Boehly?
Who is Todd Boehly, the businessman who bought Chelsea?
Former wrestler at school, Boehly rose quickly in the business world and has managed several businesses throughout his career.
He is currently co-founder, president, CEO and controlling member of Eldridge Industries, while he is also the current interim CEO of Hollywood Foreign Press Association starting October 2021.
According to Forbes, the American has a reported net worth of around $ 4.5 billion.
Boehly owns 20% of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but his relationship with the baseball team was questioned.
Ahead of the 2021 season, the Dodgers had paid the highest luxury tax and also paid the highest in terms of wages.
Last year, they had a $ 285 million (£ 212 million) payroll, which is the second highest in MLB history – behind their $ 291 million (£ 217 million) salary in 2015.
Boehly also previously led one of the largest secured loan transactions in history, which amounted to over $ 1 billion.
This means that he took out a loan to buy the franchise, using the franchise money to pay off the loan. It’s similar to what the Glazers did with Manchester United, which saw them come under massive fire from their fans, even though their loan transactions were a fraction of Boehly’s.
However, reports said Stamford Bridge executives have moved in for negotiate a clause in the sale that would negate such practices.
According to Sky News, the new measures being negotiated include a ban on paying dividends and a ban on the sale of club shares for 10 years as well as accepting strict limits on the level of debt.
