Sheffield Wednesday has had a turbulent season both on and off the field. The Owls are still looking for a buyer to help them into the next phase of their history, and Danish millionaire Anders Holch Povlsen has been mentioned most recently.
Sheffield Wednesday is looking for a buyer who is perhaps less contentious now that Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri has finally left the team since the Owls entered administration.
Having lost 12 points for going into administration in October and another six points for Chansiri’s ongoing payment problems, Wednesday now sits at the bottom of the EFL Championship standings with minus four points after 17 games.
Given that the former Thai owner was not well-liked by Hillsborough supporters, you would be hard-pressed to find an Owls fan who would have chosen to keep Chansiri at the club rather than go into administration.
A purchase of the South Yorkshire team has been linked to a number of figures, including US investor John McEvoy, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, and former Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor.
Although two other parties have already matched the asking price, Ashley’s £20 million proposal fell short of the administrators’ £30 million barrier.
According to The Athletic, Wednesday is reportedly of interest to Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, who also owns a 95% share in Danish team FC Midtjylland. However, other claims have subsequently disqualified him from consideration.
Povlsen is the richest person in Denmark with a net worth of approximately $13.3 billion, and his money would have been appreciated at Wednesday at this very moment.
The Dane, who was born in the Faroe Islands, would rank among the wealthiest owners of an English football team if his acquisition of Wednesday is successful. Football League World has examined the top 12 owners in English football at the moment.
12John Henry (FSG) – Liverpool – £4.6 billion ($6 billion)
Liverpool Football Club’s principal owner is John Henry, who purchased the team in 2011 for a pittance of £300 million.
With a roughly 40% ownership position in FSG (Fenway Sports Group), Henry has made significant decisions for the team since joining, including hiring Jurgen Klopp and managing the team’s Premier League and Champions League victories.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Henry has a net worth of approximately £4.6 billion ($6 billion), making him one of the wealthiest owners in the nation.
11Daniel Kretinsky and David Sullivan – West Ham United – £8.9 billion combined
After taking over the team in 2010 alongside his late business partner David Gold, David Sullivan currently owns 38.8% of West Ham, and as of 2021, Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský owns 27%.
With Kretinsky’s estimated net worth of £7.79 billion and Sullivan’s slightly lower net worth of £1.168 billion, the two have accumulated a combined wealth of approximately £8.9 billion. The London club has played in the Premier League for the majority of its existence, with the exception of a brief stint in the Championship in 2011 and 2012.
10Coates Family – Stoke City – £9.45 billion ($12.6 billion)
With an estimated net worth of £9.45 billion, the Coates family originally purchased the majority of Stoke City, their hometown team, in 1986. However, in 1999, they sold their share to an Icelandic consortium. Seven years later, Stoke would be bought by the Coates family once more, and the Potters have had an incredible journey ever since.
After being promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 2008, Stoke remained a stable top-flight team for almost ten years, participating in European football, making it to the FA Cup final, and finishing in ninth place three times in a row before being relegated in 2018.
Since their relegation back to the second division, the Potters have hovered in the bottom half of the table. Despite significant club investment, they have failed to finish higher than 14th since returning to the Championship; they want to reverse that this season under Mark Robins.
9Friedkin Group – Everton – £9.6 billion ($12.2 billion)
With a net worth of £9.6 billion, the Friedkin Group owns 99.5% of Everton after paying Farhad Moshiri about £400 million to acquire the majority of the company in December 2024.
Under Moshiri, Everton spent years in a rut, finishing in the bottom half of the table. However, now that Friedkin and David Moyes are leading the team, Toffees supporters are optimistic that things will improve and that they will be able to finish in the top half of the Premier League this season.
Along with Everton, the Friedkin company also owns AS Roma in Italy, and both teams have seen improvements in their fortunes since Friedkin’s acquisitions.
8Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris – Aston Villa – £10 billion combined ($12.47 billion)
The billionaire couple of American banker Wes Edens and Egyptian businessman Nassef Sawiris, who have accumulated a combined fortune of almost £10 billion, own V Sports, the holding company that owns Aston Villa.
In addition to owning Aston Villa, V Sports has investments in teams like Vitoria S.C. in Portugal, Real Union in Spain, and has alliances with Vissel Kobe in Japan and ZED FC in Egypt.
7Gamechanger 20 Ltd (ORG) – Ipswich Town – £10.8 billion
The East Anglian Times reports that ORG, an American investment company, owns 90% of Gamechanger 20 Ltd. and “manages funds on behalf of a large US pension pot – the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.” This fund is the owner of Ipswich Town.
Ed Schwartz, the club’s principal representative and the person in charge of most of the club’s investments, took over the team when it was still in League One in 2020 and was instrumental in its ascent to the Premier League. He has a net worth of about £10.8 billion.
6Shahid Khan – Fulham – £10.96 billion ($14.5 billion)
The Pakistani-American self-made millionaire Shahid Khan bought Fulham in 2013 and has been largely responsible for the team’s Premier League success since then.
With a net worth of around £10.96 billion ($14.5 billion), Khan, who is well-known for his unusual mustache, also owns the NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars and co-owns All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
5Stan Kroenke (Kroenke Sports and Entertainment) – Arsenal – £16.12 billion ($21.3 billion)
In addition to owning Arsenal, American businessman Stan Kroenke also owns the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, and around 60 million square feet of real estate, as well as more than 1.6 million acres of ranches in the United States and Canada.
With an individual net worth of $21.3 billion, Kroenke first acquired stock in Arsenal in 2007 before assuming complete ownership of the team in 2018.
4City Football Group (Sheikh Mansour) – Manchester City – £23.8 billion ($30 billion)
The Abu Dhabi United Group is the parent corporation of CFG, and the City Football Group, which owns Manchester City, also owns 12 other clubs across the globe.
Sheikh Mansour, the vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, bought Manchester City in 2008 and has an estimated net worth of $30 billion.
3BlueCo (Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, etc.) – Chelsea – £23.8 billion ($30.5 billion )
Following the sale of Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, Chelsea was purchased by Todd Boehly and BlueCo in May 2022 for £4.25 billion.
Todd Boehly’s group holds 38.5% of BlueCo, while Clearlake Capital owns 61.5% of the company. Boehly’s personal net worth is $9.3 billion, while their combined net worth is approximately £23.8 billion ($30.5 billion).
2Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe (INEOS) – Manchester United – £20.48 billion ($27.1 billion)
In a £790 million agreement, the Glazers acquired United in 2005. In 2023, they sold Sir Jim Ratcliffe a 25% stake in the team, and the British billionaire then upped his minority ownership to 28.9% in a £1.25 billion deal.
With Ratcliffe’s estimated net worth of $17.1 billion and the Glazers’ combined net worth of $10 billion, the Glazers’ net worth is approximately $27.1 billion.
1Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) – Newcastle United – £890 billion ($1.15 trillion)
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is at the top of the list—and it’s not even close—with an unimaginable wealth that is truly beyond the comprehension of the normal individual.
Newcastle United is by far the richest club in England, however they are unable to spend all of their cash because of FFP, even though the PIF is a state organization and not the private fortune of a single person. The president is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
With a remarkable net worth of $1.15 trillion as of July 2025, PIF purchased Newcastle from Sheffield Wednesday-affiliated Mike Ashley in October 2021 for £305 million.
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