Football Club: Jeff Bezos joins Liverpool FC with investor group
Along with other investors, Amazon founder Bezos is buying shares in FC Liverpool. He is not supposed to get any operational tasks at the club, but fans are still afraid of his influence.
Düsseldorf. An investor group including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is buying into English football record champions FC Liverpool.
It is "a definitive agreement to sell a minority stake in 1892 Holdings", the club announced on Friday. The investors are led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian steel entrepreneur Lakshmi Mittal. In addition to Bezos, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is also part of the group.
According to a BBC report, the American owners of Liverpool, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), will receive between 1.5 and 1.8 billion euros for 30 percent of the shares. FSG acquired the traditional club in 2010 for around 350 million euros.
FSG President Mike Gordon said it was a "decision in the best long-term interests of the club". According to him, Bezos will not take on an operational role. The fan association Spirit of Shankly had expressed skepticism before the deal.
"We have seen in similar sales in other clubs that significant changes have taken place in the management of the club and in the operational football area - with decisions and behaviors that many in Liverpool do not want to see," the alliance said. The Premier League is considered the richest football league in the world.
According to a Sky News report, around half of the 20 clubs are owned by investors, mostly based in the USA. New German national football coach Jürgen Klopp was a long-time head coach of FC Liverpool.
Translated by urgent.news. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
