The 12 richest football owners in the world have been identified.
Top Premier League teams include Fulham, Manchester City, and Newcastle.
The list of teams with significant investment in the American league includes two MLS teams.
In the contemporary era, football has become a profitable industry, and some of the wealthiest states and businesspeople in the world have poured money into the beautiful game.
It appears that the sport has evolved into a lucrative package for billionaires looking to show off their money and financial prowess in return for recognition and prestige. They don’t seem to be satisfied with simply acquiring private planes, mega-yachts, or even entire islands. The super-wealthy’s new status symbol? possessing a football team. In this environment, the only thing that can compare to the excitement of winning on the pitch is the status it bestows in the boardroom. Every goal, trophy, and even the occasional humiliating loss reflects the power and influence of its owners and is more than just a way to accumulate points on the leaderboard.
In this match, Newcastle United, Manchester City, and Fulham are representing the Premier League. But the English top flight isn’t the only one cruising through it. Based on information from a Statista analysis and additional sources, these are the top 12 football owners in 2025.
2025’s Richest Football Owners
Rank
Owner
Club
Value (£)
1.
Fund for Public Investment
Newcastle United
478 billion
2.
Mansour, Sheikh
City of Manchester
24.4 billion
3.
Jim Ratcliffe, sir
United Manchester
21.6 billion
4.
Tepper, David
Charlotte FC
14.6 billion
5.
Anschutz, Philip
The LA Galaxy
10.5 billion
6.
Shahid Khan
Fulham
9.7 billion
7.
Kroenke, Stan
The Arsenal
6.29 billion
8.
Al-Khelafi Nasser
Saint-Germain, Paris
6.20 billion
9.
Lewis, Joe
Tottenham
6.20 billion
10.
Hopp, Dietmar
Hoffenheim TSG
5.8 billion
11.
Pinault, Francois-Henri
Rennais Stadium
5.7 billion
12.
Sawiris, Nassef
Villa Aston
4.9 billion
12Nassef Sawiris
Aston Villa (£4.9bn)
Egyptian millionaire Nassef Sawiris is well-known in international sectors like real estate, telecommunications, and construction. Through their investment company, NSWE (Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens), Sawiris and American investor Wes Edens acquired a majority share in Aston Villa in 2018. After the transaction, Sawiris formally took over as chairman in place of Tony Xia.
The roughly £30 million transaction marked a turning point in Villa’s financial comeback following a period of uncertainty. Since then, Sawiris and Edens have managed large investments in the team; the former used his £4.9 billion value to help lead the Villains to an amazing comeback to European football.
11Francois-Henri Pinault
Stade de Reims (£5.7bn)
The Ligue 1 Stade Rennais owner has plenty of money to spend and is the honorary chairman of the luxury conglomerate Kering, which includes Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Alexander McQueen.
According to the figures, Pinault’s net worth is an astounding £5.7 billion, although other estimates have stated that it can go up to £31.6 billion. Since taking over the club from his father in 2017, he has invested a significant amount of money in an effort to improve Stade Rennais’s fortunes, but his efforts have not yielded much success.
Originally a timber and building materials company, Pinault’s father started Kering in 1963. But in 1999, the Frenchman made the decision to shift the company’s focus to luxury items.
10Dietmar Hopp
TSG Hoffenheim (£5.8bn)
The owner of Bundesliga team Hoffenheim, Dietmar Hopp, is extremely wealthy. According to reports, the German tycoon, who created SAP SE, has invested more than £350 million in Hoffenheim throughout his ownership tenure.
Hopp made the decision in March 2023 to relinquish Hoffenheim’s majority voting rights while continuing to control the club’s majority stake. This followed years of complaints that the team was not following German football’s 50+1 ownership regulations. Since since, Hoffenheim has been in relegation struggles and is always in danger of dropping to Germany’s second division.
9Joe Lewis
Tottenham Hotspur – (£6.20bn)
Daniel Levy may be the person in charge of Tottenham’s operations, but he does not have the financial clout. Joe Lewis, the British millionaire whose family trust owns the club, is responsible for that. Lewis amassed his wealth through currency speculation, particularly by taking advantage of the UK’s 1992 exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Later on, he established the diversified investment company Tavistock Group. Lewis paid £22 million, or about $32 million at the time, to purchase a majority ownership in Tottenham in 2001. Although he nearly faced jail time in 2024 after entering a guilty plea to insider trading, he has since played a big part in the club’s financial plans and international expansion. Instead, he received a £4 million fine.
8Nasser Al-Khelafi
Paris Saint-Germain (£6.20bn)
Nasser Al-Khelafi, the owner of Paris Saint-Germain, is worth an incredible £6.2 billion, according to a 2024 study from The Metro, which propels him up the ranks. The Qatari has yet to achieve his ambition of winning the Champions League, despite having grand aspirations to transform the French powerhouses into a European superpower.
Under his careful supervision, Les Parisiens has signed Neymar and Lionel Messi, as well as forged lucrative brand alliances with Jordan and Nike. However, Al-Khelafi’s interests extend beyond football; the PSG owner is also a huge tennis fan, to the extent that he is the second-most successful player on the Qatari Davis Cup squad.
7Stan Kroenke
Arsenal (£6.29bn)
According to the research, American billionaire Stan Kroenke, who owns Arsenal and the MLS team Colorado Rapids, has a net worth of £6.29 billion. But Kroenke’s business isn’t limited to football; it also owns the NFL team Los Angeles Rams, the NBA team Denver Nuggets, and the NHL team Colorado Avalanche.
The American tycoon possesses more than 1.5 million acres of land in the US and Canada, according to Forbes. In case he ever lost some of his own money, the owner of Arsenal is also married to Ann Walton Kroenke, a Walmart heiress and another billionaire. It’s no secret that Kroenke hasn’t been the most well-liked figure in North London over the years, despite his financial achievements. The positive performances on the pitch, however, have been suggested to ‘diminish the fans’ animosity’ for Kroneke because they have begun to perform well in the Premier League. Time will tell.
6Shahid Khan
Fulham (£9.7bn)
The report claims that Shahid Khan, the owner of Fulham, outperforms his London opponent. The Pakistani-American millionaire now ranks sixth on our list of wealthy people.
In addition to owning the NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars and the All Elite Wrestling promotion, the Fulham owner is well-known for his quirky appearance and amazing moustache. Nevertheless, Khan did not establish his value in the sports industry. He began his career with the automotive manufacturing company Flex-N-Gate Corporation while attending the University of Illinois. However, in 2013, he decided to venture into the enchanted and enigmatic world of Fulham, concluding a deal worth between £150 and £200 million, which was reported at the time but the full amount of money used to purchase the West London club was never made public.
Nevertheless, his investment in the team has allowed the Cottagers to regain their place in the Premier League and maintain a reasonably strong league ranking.
5Philip Anschutz
LA Galaxy (£10.5bn)
Philip F. Anschutz to Receive 2024 Historic Hotels of America® Legacy of Innovation and Inspiration Award https://t.co/jFIoavatWY pic.twitter.com/VDnFDwK2j7
— Latest News from Business Wire (@NewsFromBW) August 22, 2024
In addition to owning the majority of the Los Angeles Kings NHL team, Anschutz also has a share in the MLS team LA Galaxy. With a net worth of over £10.5 billion, he is among the wealthiest football owners in the world.
The billionaire Galaxy owner made his riches in real estate, telecom, oil, railroads, and entertainment. His company, Anschutz Entertainment Group, owns or manages more than 350 stadiums and concert facilities across the globe. Anschutz demonstrated his aptitude for the business world at the age of six by selling Kool-Aid on a local college campus using a wheel stand he had constructed.
4David Tepper
Charlotte FC (£14.6bn)
In 2022, David Tepper’s MLS expansion team Charlotte FC made their debut in the league, marking his first foray into the world of football. Despite being largely unknown to followers of the beautiful game worldwide, the big Tepper managed to make it onto our list as the owner of the NFL team Carolina Panthers.
The billionaire hedge fund manager from the United States is the founder and president of Appaloosa Management, a global hedge fund with headquarters in Miami Beach, Florida. In 2019, he decided to become a football owner after winning Charlotte FC just weeks before the decade ended, and he started playing at Bank of America Stadium in 2022. According to ESPN, Tepper set an MLS record when he paid $325 million in expansion fees for the team. As of this writing, this record is still in effect.
3Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Manchester United (£21.6bn)
Most Premier League fans would have heard of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the head of INEOS and co-owner of Manchester United, in recent months. Having been a self-described Red Devil as a kid, United supporters were hoping that Ratcliffe’s 2024 entrance as a minority shareholder would lead to a significant change in the team’s fortunes at Old Trafford.
But that hasn’t come to pass. Rather, his cost-cutting tactics have caused him to become estranged from the supporters and engendered resentment among the team, especially after employees were informed that their jobs were in jeopardy as a result of widespread layoffs. It will take a lot of work for United to get back to the top and for Ratcliffe to win back the confidence of his fans and staff.
2Sheikh Mansour
Manchester City (£24.4bn)
Given the amount of money and fortune he has invested in Manchester City over his tenure, it may come as a surprise to learn that the notorious owner is not at the top of this list.
However, one other club surpasses Sheikh Mansour’s £24.4 billion empire, which he has distributed among his City Group stakes at other football teams like Melbourne City and New York City FC.
Given that City has gone from being the finest team in England to one of the best in Europe, it is reasonable to conclude that Mansour has altered the face of English football in recent years. Their outstanding 2022–2023 season, in which they won a triple and established themselves as one of the greatest teams in history, solidified this.
1Public Investment Fund
Newcastle United (£478bn)
In October 2021, Newcastle United was acquired by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which is led by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
With significant investments in businesses and projects worldwide, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has amassed assets of nearly £470 billion. In addition, PIF owns four Saudi Pro League teams: Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, and Al Ahli.
Even if they weren’t included in the original data, some would contend that it is unjust to include a public investment fund on this list. It was impossible to ignore, though, because the Crown Prince himself is in charge of it. Since their arrival, the Magpies have transformed from relegation fodder to challengers for European status, proving that money can buy happiness in this situation.
