Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group have sold a stake in Liverpool Football Club to a consortium including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The world's third richest person is part of the group fronted by former QPR co-owner Amit Bhatia. Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is also part of the syndicate.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player According to Sky News, the consortium has agreed to buy a roughly one-third stake in the club in a deal that values Liverpool at more than 7bn (£5.2bn). Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. We take a look at some of the key questions surrounding what the deal could look like...
Bezos is one of the most famous businessmen in the world and the owner of e-commerce giant Amazon, which he founded in 1994 out of his Seattle garage. His other investments include aerospace company Blue Origin and venture capital firm Nash Holdings, which is the ownership vehicle for The Washington Post. Bhatia is a 46-year-old British Indian entrepreneur, who has an investment banking background.
He currently manages a multi-asset investment firm called AyBe Capital which invests in range of diversified sectors including technology, media, property and real estate, consumer retail and health. Bhatia is married to Vanisha Mittal Bhatia, who is the daughter of Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal. He leads and manages 1892 Holdings, the consortium that has agreed the minority investment in Liverpool with majority owners Fenway Sports Group.
Forbes estimates that Bezos' personal fortune is in the region of $281bn (£209bn), making him the third-richest person in the world behind Elon Musk and Google co-founder Larry Page. It's unclear how much Bhatia himself is worth. But his father-in-law, billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, is worth an estimated £23.2bn according to Forbes.
That makes him the 72nd richest person in the world. Bezos is a big American Football fan and has previously been reported to have explored bids for the Washington Commanders and the Seattle Seahawks. He is not known to hold a significant stake in any other sports team or enterprise currently.
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