Amazon founder Jeff Bezos set to buy 30% stake in Liverpool FC
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos could soon become a minority owner of Liverpool Football Club as early as this week. This comes as reports of talks between Liverpool FC owners Fenway Sport Group and a consortium led by former Queens Park Rangers co-owner Amit Bhatia continue over a minority investment in the club.
News of the potential new minority owners first cropped up in July, with early discussions between Fenway and the consortium taking place. Bhatia’s group is understood to consist of not just Bezos, but also another major tech founder Eduardo Saverin, who co-founded Facebook. FSG first announced that it was seeking fresh investment into the club back in 2022, and since then the group sold a 3% stake in Liverpool FC to sports investment firm Dynasty Equity in September 2023.
FSG has confirmed that the consortium led by Bhatia has expressed interest in taking on a minority stake in Liverpool FC, with the deal set to be for a one-third stake in the Merseyside club. The consortium is apparently set to pay around GBP1.35 billion for the 30% stake in the club, which would value Liverpool FC at approximately GBP4.4 billion.
That is likely no issue for the consortium though, considering the wealth amassed by the men leading the bid. Bhatia, a 46-year-old British Indian businessman, comes from the investment banking industry, currently in charge of investment firm AyBe Capital. Bhatia previously was the chairman of QPR from 2018 to 2023, and continued on as co-owner before formally leaving the club last month. His father-in-law meanwhile is Indian billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the 72nd richest person in the world.
Bezos of course needs little introduction, with his Amazon empire making him the third richest person in the world with a personal fortune of around USD281 billion. He doesn’t appear to have any interest in football prior this bid though he reportedly tried to buy NFL teams Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks before. Bezos is also the owner of the Washington Post newspaper and space technology company Blue Origin.
As for Saverin, the Brazilian is best known as an angel investor these days, with the 43-year-old running venture capital firm B. Capital since 2015. He does have prior links to football though, having once tried to buy Chelsea FC in 2022 when Roman Abramovich had to sell the London club due to the political pressure following the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
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