Chelsea have announced that a consortium led by American billionaire Todd Boehly has signed an agreement to purchase the Premier League club in a record breaking deal worth £4.25bn.
The American billionaire, who is co-owner of baseball team LA Dodgers, has finalised terms to buy the club along with his partners Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss.
The deal has been revealed to be worth £4.25bn, a record amount for a sports franchise, after the west London club issued a statement in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Roman Abramovich stepped down weeks after his home country, Russia, invaded Ukraine.
Below are seven things to know about Boehly:
EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION
Boehly attended Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, USA and graduated in 1991. He was a member of the school’s wrestling team, which won I.A.C. championships in both 1990 and 1991. In 2014, Landon named their facilities the Boehly Family Wrestling Room in Boehly’s honor.
He graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1996 with a B.B.A in Finance. He also studied at the London School of Economics. While at the London School of Economics, Boehly began working at Citibank and then at CS First Boston so he could gain experience with finance.
LIKE BOHELY, LIKE TRUMP
The American businessman shares some similarities with Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States. Trump’s paternal ancestry is traceable to Bobenheim am Berg, a village in the Palatinate, Germany, in the 18th century. Johann Trump, born in Bobenheim in 1789, moved to the nearby village of Kallstadt where his grandson, Friedrich Trump, the grandfather of Donald Trump, was born in 1869.
In the case of the new Chelsea owner, his grandparents are of German descent, but they spent most of their lives in the United States.
CO-OWNER OF LA DOGERS
Boehly is one of the owners of Loss Angeles Dogers, American professional baseball team that plays in the National League (NL). The team has won seven World Series titles and 24 NL pennants. Founded in 1883, the Dodgers were originally based in Brooklyn, New York, and were known as the Atlantics.
A REAL SPORTS’ LOVER
The American billionaire is no doubt a true lover of sports. Nothing shows this better than his diverse interest in spports. He is also the owner of The Washington Spirit, an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It participates in the the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
CEO OF ELDRIDGE INDUSTRIES
The businessman is the co-founder, chairman, CEO and controlling member of Eldridge Industries, a holding company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, with offices in New York, London, and Beverly Hills. Eldridge makes investments in various industries including insurance, asset management, technology, sports, media, real estate, and the consumer sector.
HOLLYWOOD LINK
Boehly is the current CEO of The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a nonprofit organisation of journalists and photographers who report on the entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States. According to records, the HFPA consists of about 105 members from approximately 55 countries with a combined following of more than 250 million. It conducts the annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Los Angeles every January. The awards honors notable examples of film and television and achievements in entertainment businesses.
FAMILY LIFE
The American businessman has three sons – Nick, Zach and Clay – with his wife, Katie, whom he co-founded The Boehly Center for Excellence in Finance with. She is a fourth-generation alumna of William & Mary. She is also a member of the FACES advisory board and has previously worked with ADP and Court Express (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures).
She graduated from William & Mary with a B.A. in history and is a member of the 1918 Society. One of Boehly’s credit funds is called NZC Guggenheim, and the NZC stands for his sons’ initials. According to records, an investor wanted assurance from Boehly that he would take the company seriously and to prove this, he named it after his sons.
