The Ricketts Family have added Cobra Beer founder and outgoing CBI president Lord Karan Bilimoria to their ever-growing consortium to takeover Chelsea which also includes Dan Gilbert and Ken Griffin.
On the same day that Stephen Pagliuca broke his silence on his stance and made significant progress with his bid with his statement, the Ricketts, who are back in Chicago at this moment to watch the start of the Cubs' season, have responded with their own developments. Sky News, who broke the Pagliuca news, have reported that the famous beer founder Lord Bilimoria has now added his backing to the Ricketts bid. Their report clarifies that Bilimoria will join the Blues board if they succeed in their bid.
With Griffin and Gilbert adding a whopping £44.6bn net worth to the Ricketts team, how much more could Lord Bilimoria potentially add with his own net worth? In response to this question, football.london takes a look at the individual net worth of the soon to be outgoing CBI president who is eager to get involved in the footballing landscape.
READ MORE: Chelsea sale: UK government releases statement amid reports on bidders to take over club
There isn't a certain figure out there regarding Lord Bilimoria's net worth but in 2021, it was estimated that the Lord was worth somewhere between $1m - $5m (£770,000 - 3.8million). Not as much as Griffin and Gilbert but still extra funds that could potentially aid the Ricketts' eight-point plan for the SW6 based side with the re-development of Stamford Bridge high on the priority of things Tom and Laura Ricketts want to do.
Regardless of their plans, as well as the Chelsea fans on social media and the ones who took to Stamford Bridge to protest against their inclusion on the shortlist, Gary Neville believes the Ricketts' consortium shouldn't be allowed to win in this race. "I was in Qatar for the last few days for the World Cup draw. I came back this morning, I was catching up with everything and saw the Thomas Tuchel interview where he said that he won every game in March and he wasn't Manager of the Month, whereas Mikel Arteta had lost a game and he was. He said he'd be happy to continue winning every game and not be Manager of the Month. Today, all of the sudden, they lose a game at home," Neville said on his podcast.
"I have to say, if I was the Ricketts family and I was getting that type of hostility on the way in... move away, move away. The fans are important. If you're the government, I don't know if it's the government who are in charge of the bid, or Bruce Buck, or the organisation appointed by Roman Abramovich - but I would say that we have to make sure that the biggest clubs in the country, we've seen here with the Glazer family, Mike Ashley at Newcastle, it drains the life. Not just out of the club, but out of the city and everyone watching.
"That cannot happen at football clubs. It's not just about best bids, it's about what the fans want. The Ricketts family are trying to reach out to Chelsea fans, but they do have some historic issues that need dealing with and explaining. At this moment in time, they are not being explained very well.
"In this current light, with what's happened with the Super League, Big Picture, Derby, Bury, what's happened with all of these issues with Roman Abramovich and the links to Putin [something Abramovich has always denied], we have to start bringing back some sort of moral compass in determining who owns a football club."
