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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Dave Powell

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri takes £200m hit as new list emerges

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri saw his net worth fall from $2.9bn (£2.2bn) to $2.6bn (£2bn) in Forbes magazine's billionaires list for 2022.

Moshiri, who bought Everton in February of 2016, saw a $300m (more than £200m) decrease in his net worth according to the latest list published last week, a drop that saw him fall from 1,064 on the global list in 2021 to 1,196 in the 2022 list. Despite his fall on the list over the last 12 months, Moshiri's net worth has increased by $800m since his arrival at Everton six years ago and dropped from a $2.9bn figure in 2021 that was his highest since 2014.

Moshiri's business interests are diverse and recent months have caused more than a few headaches owing to him severing ties with his long-time business partner and friend Alisher Usmanov - due to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine and Usmanov's alleged links to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin that saw him sanctioned by UK Government.

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Usmanov's USM Holdings company were key commercial partners of Everton through sponsorship of the Finch Farm training ground, stadium visibility and having the option on the naming rights for a £30m fee for the Bramley Moore Dock development. But following Russia's invasion of Ukraine a decision was taken to suspend the deals with USM, Yota and Megafon, with the latter sponsoring the women's team, with the suspension understood to be one that the club intends to make permanent.

Moshiri took the decision to step down from the board of USM last month, where he had served as chairman. Cypriot-based Somelior Holdings, wholly owned by Moshiri, holds an eight per cent stake in USM Holdings according to independent Russian news agency Interfax.

The Russian conflict in Ukraine has impacted those with business interests either in Russia or heavily linked, with Moshiri also having a stake in Russian steel giant Metalloinvest. Usmanov, who has had all ties with Everton severed by the club, saw his net worth fall by $6.9bn from where it was last year, the $11.5bn the lowest in more than a decade for the Uzbek-born businessman, who was sanctioned by UK Government at the beginning of March.

Everton, who posted record losses of £139.9m for 2019/20 and a £120.9m loss for the most recent financial year to take their total losses for the past two financial years to £260.8m, have been heavily reliant on the financial support of Moshiri in recent seasons, his most recent move being to convert a £100m loan to the club into equity.

Moshiri has invested more than £500m since he arrived, driving forward the realisation of the Bramley Moore Dock stadium build but failing to see a return with what has happened on the pitch, as a catalogue of poor ownership decisions have left Everton fighting for survival this season when the goal when Moshiri arrived was to be challenging for Champions League football.

Moshiri is understood to remain committed to the Everton project and willing to continue to fund the club, with Premier League survival vital to the club's ambitions for future growth.

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