Amit Bhatia’s bid to acquire a stake in 2024-25 Premier League winners Liverpool could gain one of the biggest hitters of all thanks to the consortium’s invitation to billionaire Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
Bhatia, the son-in-law of Queens Park Rangers co-owner and steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, is working on buying a 30 percent stake in the Merseyside club that values Liverpool at more than $6 billion.
He has unloaded his own stake in QPR and is reportedly in talks to buy into Liverpool as the leader of a consortium of investors that doesn’t yet include Bezos but could soon, if Bhatia’s overtures are persuasive enough.
Bezos has been approached to back Amit Bhatia’s plan to buy a stake in the Reds
Bezos has an estimated net worth of around $257 billion. He’s the fourth-richest person in the world after Elon Musk and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
“An investment consortium led, managed and represented by Amit Bhatia has expressed an interest in making a strategic minority investment in Liverpool Football Club,” according to a statement provided to BBC Sport by Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which owns the club.
FSG bought Liverpool for £300 million 16 years ago. They have won the Premier League twice and the Champions League once since the takeover, which was fronted by John W. Henry before he elected to step back from the front line.
Bhatia’s ‘strategic investment’ has been likened by some commentators to Ineos’ role at Manchester United, where Jim Ratcliffe and his team are a minority shareholder but are charged with the operational side of running the club day to day.
The 46-year-old businessman and former investment banker is married to Mittal’s daughter and his Loftus Road exit was unexpected.
Sky News revealed on Wednesday that Amazon founder Bezos, who enjoys firing things into space and starting meetings with half an hour of silent reading, had been tapped by Bhatia as a potential fellow investor in the bid to grab a slice of Liverpool.
“A source cautioned that he was not certain to proceed with an investment in Liverpool FC,” reported Mark Kleinman.
“He has reportedly explored bids in the past for the Seattle Seahawks, this year's Super Bowl winners, and the Washington Commanders, another NFL team, although he did not proceed with either deal.
“About half of the 20 Premier League clubs are owned by predominantly US-based investors, although one of those – Crystal Palace – is currently exploring a sale.”
Liverpool are set to begin a new era next month after former Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola succeeded Arne Slot as the club’s head coach. Slot delivered the Premier League title in his first season in 2024-25 but Liverpool faltered last season and had to settle for fifth place.
FSG’s previous tangible successes at Liverpool were achieved under the management of Jurgen Klopp and the German can also claim some of the credit for Slot’s title win.
With Klopp and his successor both now departed, FSG must devise and implement a strategy to challenge at the top of the Premier League again. Building that is likely to have been high on Bhatia’s agenda in his talks with the Reds owners.
