Three of the six richest people in Britain according to the latest Sunday Times rich list have stakes in football clubs. Topping the list is Lakshmi Mittal at Queen’s Park Rangers, although whether his riches have done the club much good is another question. Roman Abramovich at Chelsea is there at No.2, but he has been tightening the purse strings recently in contract negotiations.
Three of the six richest people in Britain according to the latest Sunday Times rich list have stakes in football clubs. Topping the list is Lakshmi Mittal at Queen’s Park Rangers, although whether his riches have done the club much good is another question. Roman Abramovich at Chelsea is there at No.2, but he has been tightening the purse strings recently in contract negotiations.
Alisher Usmanov who has a big stake in Arsenal clearly has the funds to launch a bid for the club as he is in the top rankings at number six. With commodity prices rising, his fortune is estimated to have gone up by a cool £3.2bn in the past year. Arsenal features quite a lot in the list. Danny Fiszman, who owns 91 per cent of the Star Diamond Group, is there in 271st place. Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, who is trying to sell her shareholding, is there in 652nd place.
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is there in 65th place. His fortune is estimated to have gone up 27 per cent in the past year. He is worth £890m and has pledged to make £25m available to buy players this summer.
Fulham’s owner Mohamed-al-Fayed is there at 94th place. He and has family have collected £368m in dividends from Harrods since 1999, more than enough to fund the club. Fulham may not be very fashionable, but Doncaster Rovers are even less so. Nevertheless, Terry Bramall, who made his money in public sector housing, is one of its owners and ranks 151st in the rich list. Reading’s owner Sir John Madejski is there at 309, although he would probably sell the club if the right purchaser came along.
Southend United may have been relegated, but one of their directors, Frank Van Wezel, is there in 911th place, making the top thousand for the first time. Sports shoes are his business.
Football may be in financial trouble, but some of the country’s wealthiest residents have taken an interest in the game. What is more intriguing, however, are the dogs who have not barked in the night. The Duke of Westminster is fabulously wealthy through his property interests, but no northern club has attracted his interest. Possibly he would think that football is a little infra dig. Richard Branson is a more extrovert character who is not shy of publicity and one might think that owning a football club would suit him. But so far he has not taken the plunge.