Liverpool's owner, Fenway Sports Group, is close to selling one third of the Premier League club to a group of investors that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.
The consortium is led by Amit Bhatia, the former co-owner of Championship side Queens Park Rangers, and is seeking to buy a stake of around 30 per cent for roughly £1.35billion. Sources indicate the deal could be rubber-stamped within the next week.
Bezos is the world's third-richest man, with an estimated net worth of £207.4billion, according to Forbes. Saverin, Mark Zuckerberg's former Harvard classmate and Facebook co-founder, is valued at £24.5billion.
Bhatia stepped down last month after nearly two decades running QPR, where a stand at Loftus Road is named after him. He is the son-in-law of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, the world's 65th-richest man with £24.8billion, according to Forbes. Bhatia, 46, has enlisted the help of a senior public relations executive who previously worked for Manchester United and King Charles during his time as Prince of Wales.
What the deal means for Liverpool's finances
Fans should not expect the club itself to gain direct access to an unlimited supply of cash, since the money from the sale will go to FSG rather than the team.
The Premier League has introduced a new version of financial fair play known as the squad cost ratio, which limits clubs to spending a set percentage of their football-related revenue and profit or loss from player sales. That limit is around 85 per cent, or 70 per cent for clubs competing in Europe, as Liverpool often does.
However, if the club wanted to borrow money in future, it would be able to do so interest-free, which would benefit cash flow. The involvement of Bezos and Saverin is also expected to help with commercial deals.
Concerns over FSG's ownership plans
Some supporters are worried the sale signals FSG is gradually giving up ownership, with principal owner John W Henry now 76. FSG sources insist the opposite is true, saying the move is another way of positioning the club for success.
The Boston-based owners, with Mike Gordon taking a more hands-on role since Michael Edwards departed, will continue to make day-to-day decisions despite selling off 30 per cent of the club. FSG and Bezos have been approached for comment.
Who is Jeff Bezos
Bezos, 62, is executive chairman of Amazon, having stepped down as chief executive. He founded the company from his garage in Seattle in 1994 after reading that web usage was growing at a rate of 2,300 per cent a year, launching an online bookstore with his then-wife, MacKenzie Scott. He changed its name from Cadabra to Amazon, after the South American river, because website listings at the time were alphabetised and an A name would appear near the top.
He also owns The Washington Post and founded Blue Origin, the space company that competes with Elon Musk's ventures, and flew to space himself in 2021. Bezos has previously explored buying into sports teams, including the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders, but pulled out of both. He married former journalist Lauren Sanchez last year.
Who is Eduardo Saverin
Saverin, 44, was born in Brazil with Romanian heritage and moved to Miami at age 13 before attending Harvard University, where he became friends with fellow student Mark Zuckerberg. The pair each invested $1,000 to set up a website for students to communicate, originally named The Facebook.
The site grew into Facebook, now part of Meta Platforms, which has more than 3billion users and a market value of around £1.12trillion. Saverin was portrayed by Andrew Garfield in the film The Social Network. He moved to Singapore and renounced his US citizenship weeks before Facebook went public, and is now head of venture capital firm B Capital.
Who is Amit Bhatia
Bhatia has an investment banking background across technology, media, property, real estate and health. He worked on Wall Street before founding a construction company at age 32 that now employs more than 5,000 people in the UK, and won the young entrepreneur of the year award in 2013.
He married Vanisha Mittal in 2004 in a six-day wedding that Guinness World Records listed as the most expensive ceremony ever, costing £41million. His company, AyBe Capital, holds shares in the cricket franchise London Spirit, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen's YouTube channel, and an indoor golf league founded by Rory McIlroy. Bhatia has recently played golf with basketball legend LeBron James and regularly plays with Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
