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The English Premier league is a premier sports league for a reason. Not only is the footballing action a notch above almost all other leagues, but also it attracts the worlds leading business barons.Heres a slideshow depicting the 10 richest businessmen having stakes in one or the other EPL clubs:
#10 Mike Ashley (Newcastle United)
Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United, is also the proprietor of British retail fireball, Sports Direct. It took him around $222 million, in total, to be the sole owner of the club. Ashleys journey as the owner of the club has been restless and jouncing, to say the least; the debt of the club being on the higher side all the time.
Pressured under debt, he made several unsuccessful attempts to trade the club. The net worth of the Newcastle United owner is $2.8 billion.
#9 Katharine Liebherr (Southampton)
The only non-executive EPL owner apart from LeBron James, Katharine Liebherr became the de facto owner of Southampton F.C. in 2010, after the death of her father, Markus Liebherr, who bought the club for 15 million in 2009. The operations of the club were left in the handsof Nicola Cortese, an Italian investor.
In recent times, though, Liebherr is having more of a say in the functioning of the club. Liebherrs affection for the club can be fathomed from her clarification stating her zero intention of selling the club. Liebherrs net worth is $3 billion.
#8 Shahid Khan (Fulham)
Shahid Khan, an American of Pakistani origin, is the owner of Flex-N-Gate, an automobile parts manufacturing company. In 2011, Khan became the proprietor of the NFL club, Jacksonville Jaguars. It took him $770 million to fully acquire the club.
A University of Illinois graduate, Khan bought the Fulham F.C. in 2013 for $300 million, hence becoming the sixth premier league owner from the United States. Khans net worth is estimated to be about $ 3.8 billion.
#7 Ellis Short (Sunderland)
An American-born, Ellis Short is a British businessman. In 1995, he chaired a private-equity firm, Lone Star. He went on to buy a Scottish hotel resort, in 2003, for about $30 million. Bolstered by surpluses in other investments, Short took over Sunderland FC in 2008
In 2013, he set up a private equity firm, Kildare Partners, which invests in hard-pressed real estate opportunities. The net worth of Ellis Short is $4 billion.
#6 Malcolm Glazer (Manchester United)
Malcolm Glazer, 85, is an American-Lithuanian businessman. He is the founding chairman of First Allied Corporation (FAC), a company owning several shopping centers across the United States. Moreover, he has stakes in Tonka and Harley Davidson.
In 1995, he bought the NFL franchise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Under him, the Buccaneers won their first Super Bowl Championship in 2003. In the same year, Glazer purchased about 28% shares in Manchester United, hence gaining the controlling power. By 2005, he went to acquire 100% stake in the club. Increase in debt, however, meant that he had to take the club back to the share markets, in 2012, to raise funds.
Malcolm Glazers net worth is valued at $4.5 billion.
#5 Joe Lewis (Tottenham Hotspur)
A Bahamian businessman, Joe Lewis, is the owner of the Tavinstock group. Tavinstock is a huge conglomerate, comprising of 200 companies spread over 15 countries; the fields of investment being oil and petroleum, retail chains, real estate, life sciences, etc.
In 2012, Lewis, though his investment company ENIC Investments Ltd., took over the ownership of Tottenham Hotspur. Joe Lewis net worth is $4.9 billion.
#4 Stan Kroenke (Arsenal)
Stan Kroenke is an American real-estate magnate. He is the founding chairman of Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE). Through KSE, over the years, he has bought shares in Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Rapids (MLS), St. Louis Rams (NFL), and Colorado Mammoths (NLL).
Kroenkes stakes in NFL clubs was transferred to his son Josh in order to meet the legal requirements. In 2007, he bought a majority share (67%) in Arsenal FC. His net worth stands at $5.6 billion.
#3 Roman Abramovich(Chelsea)
A Russian businessman, Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is the owner of Millhouse LLC, a private-scector investment company. According to Forbes, he is the 5th richest person in Russia. He owns gigantic oil and steel businesses in .
He purchased 90% stake in the Chelsea Football Club in 2003, through his company, Fordstam limited. Abramovichs net worth is about $13.8 billion.
#2 Alisher Usmanov (Arsenal)
An Uzbekistan-born, Alisher Usmanov is a Russian business tycoon. He has majority stakes in an industrial corporation, a leading publishing house, a telecommunication service provider. Until recently, he owned stakes in Apple and Facebook.
Usmanov owns about 29% stake in Arsenal; the majority owner being Stan Kroenke, whos fourth on this list. With a net worth of $18.6 billion, Usmanov is the second richest Premier League owner.
#1 Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Manchester City)
The deputy prime minister of United Arab Emirates, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also known as Sheikh Mansour, hails from a moneyed family with a fortune of about $500 billion. Mansour is also the step-brother of the incumbent president of the UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
He is the head of the Supreme Petroleum Council, and a part of the board of directors of International Petroleum Investment Company, besides possessing shares in Virgin Galactic, a commercial spaceflight company. In 2008, he bought Manchester City for a whopping $1.5 billion. If that wasnt enough, he is launching his MLS club, New York F.C. in 2015.
Sheikh Mansour tops this list of Premier League owners by a mile, with an estimated net worth of $31.5 billion.
