Football is now not just about sports, but it has entered the realm of business. And behind the big names of football clubs, it is bought by the club owner. The owner of football club can consist of one person or an organization.
There is the term consortium which means a collection of several entrepreneurs who manage a business, in this case, a football club. The owner of this club spends some money to build his team and if the team is successful, the owner can make a profit. Here are the top 10 richest football club owners who have enormous wealth. With this much money, of course, it should make it easier for them to build the team they want. Who are they?
1. Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Newcastle United – 396 Billion USD
Manchester City, its owners and fans can no longer be proud due to the title of the richest English owner is no longer their kind. It is the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund which officially acquires the club Newcastle United in 2021. Incredibly, this Public Investment Fund bought Newcastle United for 409 billion USD.
Public Investment Funds is a wealth foundation from Saudi Arabia. The owner is the Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammed bin Salman. As a consortium, the Saudia Arabia Public Investment Fund officially bought Newcastle United on October 7, 2021 from Mike Ashley. It is known that Mike Ashley ruled Newcastle United for 14 years and was not well liked by the diehard Newcastle fans. The owner’s move was greatly celebrated by Newcastle fans.
2. Francois Henri Pinault, Stade Rennais F.C. – 48.5 Billion USD
It turns out that the husband of actress Salma Hayek is not just a random man. Salma Hayek is married to a wealthy French businessman named Francois Pinault. Pinault is the founder of the groups Kering and Artemis. Pinault started his business in the wood sector in the early 1960s. In 1988, the company changed its focus to retail business and changed its name to PPR.
It turns out that Francois Pinault owns a football club. His football club, Stade Rennais, plays in French Ligue 1. His wealth when compared to the PSG owner still wins Pinault. But unfortunately the Stade Rennais club is not as bright as PSG and cannot compete to win Ligue 1.
3. Sheikh Mansour, Manchester City – 30 Billion USD
The success of Manchester City today is arguably a big contribution from the figure of Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan or better known as Sheikh Mansour. Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City in 2008 and made him the owner of the richest football club in England at the time.
This rich Arab origin is a politician and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. He is a member of the family that rules Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mansour made a massive investment in the club he bought. Manchester City could sign Pep Guardiola and recently bought a new striker, Erling Haaland for 51 million Pounds.
4. Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls, RB Leipzig – 27 Billion USD
Energy drink fans are certainly familiar with Krating Daeng and Red Bull drinks. While Krating Daeng is an energy drink from Thailand, Red Bull is from Austria.
The CEO of Red Bull is a wealthy Austrian billionaire named Dietrich Mateschitz. Dietrich Mateschitz owns not one football club but three clubs that he owns. The football club he owns has Red Bull names such as Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls, and RB Leipzig. His total wealth is estimated at 27 billion USD.
5. Andrea Agnelli, Juventus – 19.2 Billion USD
Talking about Juventus is indeed interesting. Even though the owner has a lot of money. It’s possible if you want to buy a star player who is expensive and of course still young. But what is done is the opposite. Juventus more often bring in players whose stars have started to decline due to old age.
Maybe a business strategy like this is what makes the Juventus owner rich. Juventus is managed by Andrea Agnelis and family. Andrea Agnelli is a wealthy Italian businessman. He was appointed to the UEFA Executive Committee in 2015. Andrea Agnelli also has businesses in the automotive sector such as Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari.
6. Dietmar Hopp, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – 13 Billion USD
Logically, when a club has owners who have a lot of money, the club should be successful. The owner with the money can build a team with competent people ranging from administrators, managers, to players. But this is not the case with the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The owner is rich, but the club is not doing so well.
Even though the owner of Hoffenheim, Dietmar Hopp, has a wealth of 13 billion USD, Hoffenheim’s achievements are very minimal. Dietmar Hopp’s background is a software engineer and businessman. Dietmar Hopp controls Hoffinheim with a total stake of 96%.
7. Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mazatlan Football Club Mexico – 15.7 Billion USD
If Major League Soccer in America is not so ogled by many people, just imagine with a football league in Mexico. It is clear that he will be further isolated because the league in Mexico is not very attractive. However, you still can’t close your eyes when you know that there are clubs that play in the MX League whose owners have a lot of money.
The club is Mazatlan FC, a football club that plays in the top league in Mexico. The owner is Grupo salinas which is a conglomerate consisting of various groups. The business areas of Grupo Salinas are TV Azteca, Grupo Elektra, Telecosmo and Italia. The chairman of Grupo Salinas is Ricardo Salinas.
8. Philip Anschutz, LA Galaxy – 10.9 Billion USD
Talking about football, it is true that football in America is not that popular when compared to England, Spain, Italy and Germany. But there is one club that is interesting to discuss; the Los Angeles Galaxy. This football club is located in Los Angeles and is owned by The Anshutz Entertainment Group.
AEG is an American music and sports entertainment company. Its founder was Philip Anschutz. LA Galaxy is not the only source of money for Philip Anschutz. This rich American man also has other investments in the Chicago Fire and Metro Star. His net worth is estimated at 10.9 billion USD.
9. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal – 9 Billion USD
There are many American businessmen who have spread their business wings to the UK. And Stan Kroenke is one of them. He expanded his business to England by buying Arsenal. He bought Arsenal in April 2007. The first time he bought, he only had a 30% stake. It was only in April 2011 that he held a 62.89% stake.
With a share of that size, it’s clear that he is in control of Arsenal. His net worth is estimated at 9 billion USD. Besides Arsenal, Stan Kroenke also has other sports clubs such as the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Mammoth, and many more. All these clubs became a contributor to the wealth for Kroenke.
10. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Paris Saint-Germain – 8 Billion USD
Speaking of rich clubs, Paris Saint-Germain will definitely be on this list. The giant club in France is owned by Qatar Sports Investments. QSI is a shareholding organization founded in 2005 and headquartered in Doha, Qatar. QSI is led by a man named Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
Qatar Sports Investments bought PSG in 2011. Nasser Al-Khelaifi automatically became PSG’s boss. With so much wealth, Nasser Al-Khelaifi recruited a number of star players to create a team that could win Ligue 1 and is currently eyeing the UEFA Champions League. Some of the star players who are now at PSG include Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar.
