Everton finally have new owners after months of drawn-out speculation regarding the future of the club.
The Toffees, who are set to move to their brand-new stadium on the Bramley Moore Dock at the end of the season, have flirted with relegation for the last three Premier League campaigns but will now hope stability is on the horizon.
Point deductions, high-profile transfer sagas and poor recruitment have all been part and parcel of supporting Everton. So with new investment and hope arriving, FourFourTwo looks at the fresh face at the helm on Merseyside...
Who is Everton's new owner?
Having acquired Farhad Moshiri's 91.4% stake in the club, American businessman Dan Friedkin is set to become Everton's new owner. The 59-year-old is set to end Moshiri's eight-year stay on Merseyside.
Born in San Diego, California, Friedkin studied for his Bachelor's degree at Georgetown University. He is the son of billionaire Thomas H. Friedkin, who founded Gulf States Toyota Distributors.
Furthermore, Friedkin Jnr is still heavily involved in their Toyota distribution and at one point the company's sales accounted for 13% of all Toyota sales in the United States. By age 35, Dan was overseeing the operations.
The Friedkin Group also have additional business interests which are described as a "privately held consortium of businesses and investments in the automotive, hospitality, entertainment, sports and adventure industries".
Dan also owns Neon, an independent film company which has produced films such as Parasite. His extended movie operations are in Imperative Entertainment, a studio that produced Martin Scorcese's Killers Of The Flower Moon, The Mule, The Square, and Ridley Scott's All The Money In The World.
Since 2020, TFG has also owned Serie A side Roma. They paid around £550m for the acquisition and their deal to buy Everton is expected to also be in that ballpark. Friedkin’s 34-year-old son, Ryan, is an avid football fan and plays a key role at the Italian club.
What have The Friedkin Group said about their takeover?
It seems there is hope for a bright future with the Toffees, with TFG already expressing their excitement about taking over on Merseyside in the not-so-distant future.
They said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to become custodians of this iconic football club. "We are focused on securing the necessary approvals to complete the transaction. We look forward to providing stability to the club, and sharing our vision for its future, including the completion of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.”
