Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams are giving millions of pounds for one of the offers they are fighting to become the new owners of Chelsea.
Sky News can exclusively reveal the full range of investors supporting the takeover proposal, led by Sir Martin Broughton, former Liverpool chairman and British Airways – the most famous of which are the seven-time Formula One world champion and former world number one tennis for women.
Sources close to the group said Hamilton and Williams – the highest-ranking members of each of the three remaining consortia – had promised approximately £ 10 million each for the offer.
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Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams are betting millions of pounds on Sir Martin Broughton’s offer to buy Chelsea – Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman provides further details.
Both Hamilton, who will compete for the Mercedes at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola this weekend – live on Sky Sports – and Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam tournaments, including seven Wimbledon titles, have become established investors in recent years. years.
Serena Ventures, the tennis star’s venture capital fund, this week announced an investment in Opensponsorship, a UK-based startup for sports technology, while Hamilton backed a number of early-stage companies such as Zapp, the London-based fast food delivery app.
Their participation in the Chelsea auction is unexpected – not least because Hamilton is a fan of Arsenal.
However, Hamilton and Williams have been in talks with the group led by Broughton for several weeks.
On Thursday morning, it was unclear which corporations the couple would use to invest in the Blues.
Image: Sir Martin Broughton is a former president of Liverpool
The consortium is uniquely led by the UK among the trio of candidates on the list, and includes another UK sports icon in the form of Sebastian Coe among its supporters.
A source close to the group said the addition of Hamilton and Williams was a major investment decision because of their experience in building global sports brands.
They also pointed out that the couple’s participation is not the first time famous athletes have supported a Premier League club – NBA star LeBron James has been a small shareholder in Liverpool for more than a decade.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights of Arsenal’s victory against Chelsea in the Premier League.
According to the consortium’s plans, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), a holding company led by US private capital billionaires Josh Harris and Dave Blitzer, will own a controlling stake in Chelsea – although they will have to sell their minority stake in Crystal. Palace before that to complete the deal.
Their participation in the ownership and management of Crystal Palace since 2015 is also a distinctive factor among the other bidders for Chelsea.
Other investors in the Broughton-led group include: the Canadian Rogers family, which has a strong interest in media and telecommunications company Rogers Communications; John Arnold, who chaired the Houston 2026 FIFA World Cup nomination committee; and the Taiwanese Tsai family, which owns the baseball teams Taipei Fubon Braves and Fubon Guardians.
Image: Sebastian Coe is a Chelsea supporter and part of Broughton’s candidacy for the club
As Sky News reported on Monday, Alejandro Santo Domingo, heir to one of the world’s largest breweries and an investor in several North American sports franchises, is also investing in the offer.
Sources close to the offer, led by Broughton, said the diversity of the list of global investors was among the factors that persuaded Hamilton and Williams to join.
An insider suggested that Hamilton was likely to play an official role in Chelsea’s future efforts to promote diversity, equality and inclusion if the offer was successful.
He and Williams have been advocates in their respective sports and beyond in promoting equality, giving their names to a number of anti-discrimination initiatives.
The issue was highlighted earlier in the sale of Chelsea, when one of the bidders – a consortium led by the Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs – was forced to distance itself from historical Islamophobic remarks.
The Broton consortium is believed to be in the best position of the other consortiums to focus on the complexity of owning Chelsea, including the future redevelopment of Stamford Bridge.
Other bidders for Chelsea include consortia led by Todd Boelli, private owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team, and Steve Palyuka, who owns stakes in the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Serie A’s Atalanta.
The Ricketts-led consortium withdrew its proposal last week, saying members of the bid had failed to agree on a final deal.
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