Manchester United's new partial-stake investor, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is the possessor of one of sport's fattest chequebooks
(Image credit: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
New Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Raciffe has been listed on a newly-published rich list that estimates the wealth of sports franchise owners from around the world.
The chemicals magnate has had an avid and active interest in sport for years, with his company Ineos investing heavily and successfully in cycling, as well as taking ownership of French side Nice in 2019. It was announced last month that Sir Jim had agreed to take a 25% share of Manchester United in a £1.25bn deal, which is awaiting the rubber stamp from the Premier League.
That’s a hefty sum by anyone’s standards – just think of the crisps you could buy if you were let loose with that amount of money – and speaks of the vast, vast net worth any one individual needs to wield to buy their way into an elite club these days.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has invested 25 per cent in United (Image credit: Getty Images)
Betting company OLBG turned to the latest editions of the Forbes and Bloomberg billionaire rankings to try and work out where that investment places Sir Jim compared with his fellow club owners, ultimately placing him in 15th place with his wealth estimated at $12.1bn in American dollars (£9.8bn, by our reckoning).
If we are to take those numbers as gospel, his investment in Manchester United represents an eight per cent chunk of his worth.
Despite placing Sir Jim among the richest owners in sport, he does not even rank among the top three when it comes to the owners of Premier League clubs, with Sheikh Mansour (Manchester City, $40bn), Mohammad Bin Salman (Newcastle $25bn) and the Kroenke family (Arsenal, $14.9bn) all ranked ahead of him.
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke is also on the list (Image credit: Getty)
Stoke City’s long-time owners, the Coates family, place 19th in the list. Granted, the club themselves currently place 17th in the Championship, but at least their fans can now chant ‘19th in the OLBG owner wealth rankings based on an amalgamation of other rich lists, you’ll never sing that’.
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Former Microsoft chief exec and ten-year Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer tops the list with an estimated wealth of $99.2bn.
Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
