Hansjorg Wyss, an 86-year-old Swiss billionaire, claims he has been offered the chance to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich as part of a consortium.
Abramovich’s ownership of the club is under intense scrutiny following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calls for further sanctions against Russian oligarchs by the UK Government.
Abramovich - who has not been sanctioned and always denied links to Russian president Vladimir Putin - has already announced his intention to step back from the running of the club, handing stewardship to the trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation, but that move has hit obstacles.
Despite insistence from inside Stamford Bridge that the club is not for sale, Wyss told Swiss outlet Blick: “Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.
“I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2 billion. But Chelsea has no money.
“As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price. I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners,” added Wyss.
“But I have to examine the general conditions first. But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone. If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.”
Who is Hansjorg Wyss?
Born in the Swiss capital of Bern in 1935, Wyss studied first at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich before going on to earn an MBA from Harvard.
He made his fortune after founding the US division of Synthes, a Swiss company specialising in the manufacture of medical devices, which he then sold to American pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson in a deal worth around $20bn in 2012.
Wyss has since poured much of his time and money into philanthropy, with Forbes magazine - which lists his net worth at $5.1bn as of last year - describing him as “one of the most philanthropic people in the world”.
His Wyss Foundation has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to supporting a range of causes, particularly those concerning environmental conservation and, more recently, aiding progressive political causes.
Wyss lives in Wyoming, USA and has no history of investment or ownership in the sports industry.
