The best way to describe the state of Chelsea over the last month is a circus. The opening act was Roman Abramovich handing ownership duties to the Foundation trustees, which set in motion a chain of crazy events. The Russian then announced his intention to sell the club, sending the worldwide audience into a frenzy. The oligarch was consequently hit with sanctions by the British government, which directly impacted the Blues’ ability to operate on a day-to-day basis with any sense of normalcy. Interested parties have been lining up ever since.
The Raine Group—the New York-based company tasked with running the show—has narrowed its list down to four parties as it prepares for the closing act, which will likely take center stage in April. The Pride of London has already scouted two of Chelsea’s potential bidders in Sir Martin Broughton and Stephen Pagliuca. It is now time to dive deep into the man behind the group that’s been favorited to take over the club from day one, Todd Boehly.
Here is more about the consortium as we put Boehly and his associates under the microscope:
Todd Boehly
The frontman of the consortium, Boehly, is an American businessman and investor. His experience in the business world is a bit more cut and dry, so before diving into his sporting ventures, we’ll discuss those. The 46-year-old most notably wears many hats at Eldridge Industries, which is a holding company headquartered in Connecticut. Boehly is a co-founder, Chairman, CEO and controlling member. His status here is where most of his wealth (net worth of £3.57 billion) comes from.
Eldridge invests in numerous influential industries, such as food, life insurance, media, sports and technology. The most notable asset under the Eldridge Industries umbrella is Cain International, a real estate firm based in London. This checks one of the major boxes for any potential owner as the renovation of Stamford Bridge is seen as a priority following the takeover. In addition to his aforementioned positions, Boehly is a part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, where he has acted as the interim CEO since October 2021.
Boehly is also a part-time owner of numerous sports franchises in the Los Angeles area. He is known mostly for the part he plays in the Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) organization. The Dodgers are one of the most consistent and best teams in baseball, and they have been for a better part of the last decade. The American also recently dipped his toes into the basketball pool when he became a part owner of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA).
Simply put, he has a track record of investing in successful sports franchises who put winning first. Perhaps the most admirable thing about Boehly is his dedication to both success and inclusion. He is a firm believer in growing women’s sports, as evidenced by his investment in the Sparks and attempt to purchase the Washington Spirit (NWSL). This is another important quality in an owner as Chelsea is amongst the leaders in the innovation of women’s football.
While Boehly has a lot of experience in American sports, what makes him a good candidate to own a Premier League club? English sports are not completely foreign to him seeing as he spent time studying at the London School of Economics. Given how big a sports fan Boehly is, it’s very unlikely the English top flight was completely foreign to him at the time. Furthermore, he’s attempted to purchase both Chelsea and Tottenham in years past.
It now seems as if he could finally break through into the Premier League as an owner of the Blues. While Chelsea supporters will understandably upset to see Abramovich depart after 19 years, they would be getting a seemingly overqualified replacement in Boehly.
Hansjorg Wyss
While Boehly is seen as the frontman for this consortium at this moment in time, that hasn’t always been the case. In fact, it was the American’s partner, Hansjorg Wyss, who kick off the entire frenzy. His interview with Swiss outlet Blick in early March acted as a catalyst for interested parties to begin preparing their bids for the Blues. Abramovich had just announced he was transferring power to the Chelsea Foundation’s trustees when Wyss claimed that he had been offered the opportunity to take over the prestigious English club. This sent the football world into a panic and forced the Russian oligarch’s hand; he announced his intentions to sell just days after Wyss’ comments went public.
Despite this, there hasn’t been many additional comments from the Swiss billionaire since early March. He’s remained relatively quiet as he’s instead elected to simply show his financial support for Boehly. After all, Boehly is largely seen as the mastermind and leader of the group. Wyss is on board for his investment and the exceptional PR that comes with him.
Born in Switzerland in the mid-1930s, it didn’t take the now 86-year-old long to take his genius to the United States. Wyss founded Synthes USA (an American extension of the Swiss company Synthes) in 1977. He acted as the CEO and president for three decades until his resignation in 2007. Although he chose to step down, he still remained a chairman until the medical device manufacturer was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 2012 for around $20 billion (£15 billion).
Wyss is still involved with the medical field through his investments in both NovoCure and Molecular Partners. He is valued at $5.2 billion (£3.95 billion), which makes him the 553rd richest individual on the planet. Despite this, he has spent a lot of his time—and money—on philanthropy since selling Synthes. Forbes dubbed him “one of the most philanthropic people in the world” recently due to the billions he’s donated to numerous causes.
As noted earlier, Wyss’ involvement can only serve to strengthen Boehly’s bid for Chelsea. One of the biggest points of emphasis from the club under Abramovich has been its philanthropic efforts. The Blues have been at the forefront of a number of social movements, most notably the anti-Semitism movement and Say No To Racism. It goes without saying the club’s involvements with these campaigns would only continue to strengthen if Wyss is involved with the next takeover.
Jonathan Goldstein
There are a lot of unknowns about the transfer of power at Chelsea given the complexity of the situation. However, one thing that’s certain is the fact that whoever is given the nod will likely check many of the boxes that the current hierarchy is looking for—if not all. Thus far, the Boehly consortium checks the sports experience, good PR and financial might boxes. The duo revealed in the early days of their campaign that they had a third investor who would bring something completely different to the table, that man is Jonathan Goldstein.
For those who don’t know Goldstein, he is the founder and CEO of Cain International. Cain International is the London-based real estate firm that was discussed on the first slide, which works under Boehly’s Eldridge Industries. Goldstein has worked with Boehly and his team for the last eight years on projects with a couple of teams in Los Angeles.
Goldstein’s involvement has split opinions with the Blues’ fanbase seeing as he is a diehard Tottenham Hotspur supporter. He grew up in Essex and he’s been a Spurs fan his entire life. Despite this, there is no real conflict of interest seeing as he’s not been a part of any Tottenham ownership during his time as the CEO of Cain International. Goldstein’s willingness to join forces with Boehly and Wyss will always worry fans, but it’s not believed he would have any real impact on decision making at the club.
His role in all of this will likely be solely to oversee the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge. It’s going to be a tough project for any new owner and one that will require a lot of lobbying, in addition to time and money. Thus, few are better for the role than Goldstein, who knows the London real estate market better than anyone involved in the Blues’ potential takeover.
Goldstein is also the former chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, which only serves to strengthen the consortium’s bid even further given Chelsea’s commitment to combatting anti-Semitism. Goldstein’s involvement seemingly completes the trifecta. Boehly is the sporting brains, Wyss is the philanthropist and wealthy investor and Goldstein is the renovation aficionado. Overall, this trio represents a well put together consortium that could only improve the current state of affairs in west London.
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