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.
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.
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’.
Former Microsoft chief exec and ten-year Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer tops the list with an estimated wealth of $99.2bn.
More Manchester United stories
Manchester United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe gives expected ratification date for takeover
Manchester United takeover: how much Sir Jim Ratcliffe plans to invest after buying 25%
'Even bus driver got praise' – Roy Keane thinks Tottenham love-in was exaggerated after Manchester United draw
