FX.co ★ Top 5 richest football club owners

Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund

The Saudi takeover of Newcastle United took a year and a half to be complete. After the deal was closed in October 2021, the club's fans partied long into the night for several days. The news was also welcomed within Newcastle United, given the size of the new owner's fortune. The Saudi fund has over $430 billion in assets, and its chairman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has a personal fortune of $17.6 billion. No other football club owner in the world has comparable wealth.

Carlos Slim

Carlos Slim is the richest businessman in Mexico, with an estimated net worth of $75 billion. He owns Mexico and Latin America’s biggest telecommunications corporation, América Móvil. His business interests also include construction, mining industry, real estate, mass media (he owns a 17% stake in the New York Times) and football. Rumors were circulating that Slim considered acquiring Atlético Madrid and Getafe, but so far, he only owns Real Oviedo. The magnate purchased the nearly bankrupt club in 2012 for €2.5 million.

François-Henri Pinault

François-Henri Pinault, one of the richest people in France with a net worth of $47.5 billion, is the chairman of Kering, a corporation specialized in luxury goods. The company owns such famous brands as Saint Laurent, Gucci, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen. Pinault is also the owner of Stade Rennais FC, a club that was originally acquired by his father in the late 1990s. Rennes has yet to join the ranks of top clubs due to the owner’s policy of not buying any players. Instead, Pinault sponsors the club’s academy that supplies Rennes with young, talented players.

Dietrich Mateschitz

Dietrich Mateschitz, the founder of Red Bull, has an estimated net worth of $24.5 billion. Being a die-hard sports fan, he invests a sizeable amount of his funds in this field. The Austrian billionaire’s first acquisition was SV Austria Salzburg, soon renamed Red Bull Salzburg. Mateschitz remains the owner of several other famous clubs, such as New York Red Bulls and RB Leipzig. Besides football, the businessman also has an interest in motorsport - he owns a Formula 1 racing team, Red Bull Racing.

Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi royal family once topped the list of the richest football club owners. Nowadays, he is only fifth, having an estimated net worth of $22 billion. Nevertheless, he leads the competition in the amount of acquired clubs - Mansour owns stakes in 10 football clubs. The flagship of the magnate’s football portfolio is Manchester City FC, acquired in 2008 for $212 million. In the first 10 years, Sheikh Mansour invested about $1.7 billion into the Citizens.