Manchester United: Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe buys shares

Glazers remain majority owners

English billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s entry into Manchester United is perfect. As the English record champions announced on Christmas Eve, the entrepreneur will take over up to 25 percent of the shares and invest a further 300 million dollars (270 million euros) in the Old Trafford Stadium of the club, which is currently in crisis. Ratcliffe is estimated to pay more than 1.4 billion euros for the shares, as the BBC reported on Sunday. The Glazer family from the USA, who are unpopular with many fans, remains the majority owner.

Boehly, Bin Salman & Co.: The owners of the Premier League clubs

Newcastle United – Mohammed Bin Salman (Saudi Arabia)

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Starting year: 2021, as Chairman of the Public Investment Fund

Manchester United – Joel Glazer* (USA)

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*and family
Year of entry: 2003

Chelsea FC – Todd Boehly (USA), Mark Walter (USA), Hansjörg Wyss (Switzerland)

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Starting year: 2022 | Info: You can see the respective majority shareholders of the clubs here, who do not necessarily have to own 100% of the shares.

AFC Bournemouth – Bill Foley (USA)

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Starting year: 2022

Nottingham Forest – Vangelis Marinakis (Greece)

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Year of entry: 2017

Fulham FC – Shahid Khan (USA/Pakistan)

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Starting year: 2013

Everton FC – 777 Partners (pictured: founder Josh Wander)

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Starting year: 2023

Aston Villa – Wes Edens (USA) & Nassef Sawiris (Egypt)

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Starting year: 2018

Arsenal FC – Stan Kroenke (USA)

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Starting year: 2008

Liverpool FC – John Henry (USA)

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Year of entry: 2010

West Ham United – David Sullivan (Wales), David Gold (England), Daniel Kretinsky (Czech Republic)

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Starting year: 2010, Kretinsky from 2021

Brentford FC – Matthew Benham (England)

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Starting year: 2011

Brighton & Hove Albion – Tony Bloom (England)

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Year of entry: 2009

Crystal Palace – Steve Parish (England)

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Starting year: 2011

Manchester City – Mansour Al-Nahyan (UAE)

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Starting year: 2008

Tottenham Hotspur – Daniel Levy (England)

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Starting year: 2000
ENIC Sports and Development Holdings Limited holds 85.55% of Tottenham. Levy owns 29.4 percent of the company, Joe Lewis owns 70.6 percent. Levy is chairman of the club.

Wolverhampton Wanderers – Guo Guangchang (China)

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Starting year: 2016

Burnley FC – Alan Pace (USA)

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Starting year: 2020

Sheffield United – Abdullah Bin Mosaad Al Saud (Saudi Arabia)

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Starting year: 2013
in the picture CEO Stephen Bettis and deputy chairman Yusuf Giansiracusa

Luton Town – Fan Consortium Luton Town FC 2020 Ltd (England)

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Starting year: 2008
Pictured is founding member and CEO David Wilkinson

Most recently, according to media reports, the Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani withdrew his offer to buy the club completely. In return for his investment, Ratcliffe and his company will take responsibility for sporting affairs. The boss of the chemical giant Ineos has already been involved in cycling and sailing. In the football business, the company joined OGC Nice in 2019, of which Ratcliffe is the 100% owner. However, the question arises as to how much longer.

Ineos exit near Nice? Multi-club ownership is not a critical issue at first

The 71-year-old comes from the Manchester area. “As a local boy and a lifelong supporter of the club,” Ratcliffe said he was very happy about joining Man United. It doesn’t seem entirely unlikely that he will get additional shares in Man United through Ineos. This will also determine whether Ratcliffe sells his shares in OGC Nice. A sum of just over 90 million euros is circulating in the event of a complete sale. For now, Ratcliffe also has to deal with the critical issue of multi-club ownership, as he only owns a quarter of the shares in Manchester and the two clubs cannot ensure a conflict of interest in the European Cup, as happened in the 2018 encounters between RB Salzburg and Leipzig was criticized. The Premier League clubs voted down a possible ban on switching from a foreign club to an English one with the same owner in November.

In Ratcliffe’s opinion, Man United have not been living up to their potential recently. In the Champions League, Manchester United recently lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich as bottom of the group and was completely eliminated from the European Cup this season. Dutch coach Erik ten Hag’s team is only eighth in the Premier League after losing 2-0 at West Ham United on Saturday. In English media reports there is also intensive speculation about the future of the still unsuccessful ex-Ajax coach.

“Sir Jim and Ineos bring a wealth of business experience as well as significant financial contributions to the club,” said United board members Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer. The agreement still needs to be approved by the Premier League, among other things.

Most Premier League goals: Salah jumps into top 10 – Kane second

20 Romelu Lukaku – 278 games – 121 goals

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For Chelsea, West Bromwich, Everton and Manchester United
Gallery: Most goals by a player since the Premier League was founded in 1992/93, as of December 23, 2023

19 Dwight Yorke – 375 games – 123 goals

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Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn, Birmingham City, Sunderland

18 Nicolas Anelka – 364 games – 125 goals

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Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Bolton, Chelsea, West Bromwich

17 Robbie Keane – 349 games – 125 goals

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Coventry City, Leeds, Spurs, Liverpool, West Ham, Aston Villa

16 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – 288 games – 127 goals

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Leeds, Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic

15 Jamie Vardy – 307 games – 136 goals

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Leicester City

14 Robin van Persie – 280 games – 144 goals

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Arsenal, Manchester United

13 Teddy Sheringham – 418 games – 146 goals

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Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Spurs, Portsmouth, West Ham

12 Les Ferdinand – 349 games – 149 goals

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QPR, Newcastle, Spurs, West Ham, Leicester City, Bolton

11 Michael Owen – 326 games – 150 goals

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Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United, Stoke City

10 Mohamed Salah – 248 games – 151 goals

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Liverpool, Chelsea

9 Robbie Fowler – 379 games – 162 goals

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Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester City, Blackburn

8 Jermain Defoe – 496 games – 163 goals

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West Ham, Portsmouth, Spurs, Sunderland, Bournemouth

7 Thierry Henry – 258 games – 175 goals

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arsenal

6 Frank Lampard – 611 games – 177 goals

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West Ham, Chelsea, Manchester City

5 Sergio Aguero – 275 games – 184 goals

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Manchester City

4 Andy Cole – 415 games – 187 goals

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Newcastle, Man United, Blackburn, Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth, Sunderland

3 Wayne Rooney – 491 games – 208 goals

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Everton, Manchester United

2 Harry Kane – 320 games – 213 goals

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Norwich City, Spurs

1 Alan Shearer – 441 games – 260 goals

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Blackburn, Newcastle

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