Chelsea takeover: Who is Todd Boehly and how rich is he?
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 30 May 2022 16:32 BST
- 6 min read
Chelsea have announced that the consortium led by Todd Boehly has completed its takeover of the club.
The group has had to overcome significant hurdles to buy the club, having been named among a group of preferred bidders to replace Roman Abramovich at the helm of the club after his assets were frozen.
There were subsequent doubts where the funds of the sale would be channelled to, which further delayed the deal, but in a statement published on Monday, the Stamford Bridge side announced that it has now owners.
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"The consortium led by Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge, and Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., today announced completion of the ownership transfer of Chelsea Football Club," Chelsea said.
"The consortium also includes Hansjorg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation, and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Capital.
"Walter and Boehly are owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction has received all necessary approvals from The Government of the United Kingdom, The Premier League, and other authorities."
Who is Todd Boehly?
Boehly is an American businessman, investor and philanthropist, and is currently the controlling member of a holding company called Eldridge Industries. Boehly is also the interim CEO of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
In sporting terms, Boehly is most well-known for his part-ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He owns 20% of the baseball team. Boehly is also a part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, a women’s basketball club based in LA.
Together with Mark Walter, Boehly acquired a 27% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers in July 2021.
Chelsea will be his first sporting venture outside LA. He actually tried to buy Chelsea back in 2019, but his bid of $3 billion (€2.84bn/£2.4bn) was turned down by Abramovich.
Will Todd Boehly be Chelsea’s new owner?
Chelsea confirmed in the statement released on 30 May that Boehly and Clearlake "will share joint control and equal governance of the Club". Boehly will be the chairman of the holding company, however.
After agreeing a deal with the club, the first thing on the agenda for Boehly’s group was the Premier League's Owners' & Directors' Test, which they passed. It’s a process that is completed for every new or prospective new owner and outlines requirements that would prohibit an individual from becoming an owner or director of a club. These include criminal convictions for a wide range of offences including: a ban by a sporting or professional body or breaches of certain key football regulations, such as match-fixing.
Rather than Boehly, however, Clearlake Capital hold the majority stake, which they’ve confirmed they won’t sell until 2032. Boehly and Hansjoerg Wyss have both always wanted minority ownership. Boehly will, however, have operational control.
What is Todd Boehly’s net worth
Boehly’s net worth is a huge $4.5 billion (£3.65bn/€4.27bn) according to Forbes. At the time of writing that ranks him as the billionaire with the 637th highest net worth in the world.
Will Chelsea’s transfer embargo be lifted?
The sanctions placed on Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had huge consequences for Chelsea. Since the news of the sanctions broke, Chelsea have been unable to make any form of money that would benefit Abramovich.
As a result, renewing contracts hasn’t been possible, and neither has selling or signing players. Chelsea also haven’t been able to sell tickets to non-season ticket holders and club merchandise couldn’t be sold either.
Chelsea have been able to operate under a special licence given to them by the Premier League, but that will run out at the end of May. However, the sanctions will be lifted as sale is confirmed.
Due to this, Chelsea’s transfer embargo will be lifted.
The government had confirmed the special licence would not be extended into June, although this rarely appeared under threat.
An official club statement confirmed: “The sale is expected to complete in late May subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.”
Chelsea will be able to sell and sign players during the summer transfer window.
How much will Todd Boehly spend on transfers?
The official statement from Chelsea revealed that Boehly “will commit £1.75bn in further investment for the benefit of the Club. This includes investments in Stamford Bridge, the Academy, the Women’s Team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation”.
As well as this, it’s expected that Boehly will spend big on transfers in order to guarantee results, but it’s unlikely to be similar money to what Abramovich regularly spent. While Boehly is very rich, he isn’t on the same level as Abramovich. For example, the former Chelsea owner has a net worth of $8.8bn (£7.13bn/€8.34bn), which is almost double that of Boehly.
So, it remains to be seen how much Boehly invests in transfers.
Where does the money from Chelsea’s sale go?
As stated in Chelsea’s statement: “Of the total investment being made, £2.5bn will be applied to purchase the shares in the Club and such proceeds will be deposited into a frozen UK bank account with the intention to donate 100% to charitable causes as confirmed by Roman Abramovich. UK Government approval will be required for the proceeds to be transferred from the frozen UK bank account.”
A statement in Abramovich’s name also confirmed that he still wants the money from the sale to go to charity. “Mr Abramovich’s intentions in relation to gifting the proceeds from the Chelsea sale to charity have not changed.
“Since the initial announcement, Mr Abramovich’s team has identified senior representatives from UN bodies and large global charitable organisations who have been tasked with forming a Foundation and setting out a plan for its activities. The lead independent expert has had conversations with Government representatives presenting the structure and initial plans.
“Mr Abramovich has not been involved in this work and it has been managed independently by experts with years of experience working in humanitarian organisations.”
So, the money paid by Boehly’s group will go to charity rather than benefiting Abramovich or the UK government.
Does Abramovich want his loan money back?
Despite reports suggesting Abramovich wanted the loan money he spent on the club to be repaid, the statement released by the club on his behalf has denied such rumours.
It read: “Mr Abramovich has not asked for any loan to be repaid to him – such suggestions are entirely false – as are suggestions that Mr Abramovich increased the price of the Club last minute. As part of Mr Abramovich’s objective to find a good custodian for Chelsea FC, he has however encouraged each bidder throughout this process to commit investing in the Club – including in the Academy, Women’s team, necessary redevelopment of the stadium as well as maintaining the work of Chelsea Foundation.
“Following sanctions and other restrictions imposed on Mr Abramovich by the UK since announcing that the Club would be sold, the loan has also become subject to EU sanctions, requiring additional approvals. That means that the funds will be frozen and subject to a legal procedure governed by authorities.”
