Sheffield Wednesday has had a turbulent season, both on and off the pitch, with the Owls still looking for a buyer to lead the club into the next era, most recently linked to Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen.
Sheffield Wednesday is looking for a buyer who is less contentious than Thai investor Dejphon Chansiri, who has been out of the picture since the Owls went into administration.
Wednesday are at the bottom of the EFL Championship table after 17 games, having lost 12 points for entering administration in October and an additional six points for Chansiri’s ongoing payment troubles.
However, you’d be hard pressed to find an Owls fan who would have preferred Chansiri staying at the club rather than going bankrupt, with the previous Thai owner unpopular among Hillsborough supporters.
Several names have been associated with the purchase of the South Yorkshire club, including former Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, and US investor John McEvoy.
Ashley’s £20 million proposal did not meet the administrators’ £30 million asking price, but two other parties have since matched it.
According to The Athletic, Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, who also owns a 95% stake in Danish club FC Midtjylland, is reportedly interested in Wednesday, though other reports have subsequently ruled him out.
Povlsen has a net worth of approximately $13.3 billion, making him Denmark’s richest person, and his finances would almost likely have been appreciated on Wednesday right now.
If his purchase of Wednesday goes through, the Dane, who was born in the Faroe Islands, will become one of the wealthiest owners in English football, according to Football League World, which has compiled a list of the 12 richest owners in the country right now.
12John Henry (FSG) – Liverpool – £4.6 billion ($6 billion)
Liverpool Football Club’s major owner is John Henry, who bought the club for around £300 million in 2011.
Henry owns the majority share in FSG (Fenway Sports Group), worth approximately 40%, and has been in charge of important decisions at the club since his arrival, including Jurgen Klopp’s appointment and the club’s Premier League and Champions League victories.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Henry’s net worth is estimated to be approximately £4.6 billion ($6 billion), making him one of the country’s richest proprietors.
11Daniel Kretinsky and David Sullivan – West Ham United – £8.9 billion combined
David Sullivan and his late business partner David Gold took control of West Ham in 2010. Daniel Křetínský, a Czech billionaire, controls 27% of the club as of 2021.
Kretinsky’s net worth is estimated to be around £7.79 billion, while Sullivan’s is slightly less lucrative at £1.168 billion, bringing the total wealth to around £8.9 billion, with the London club having been Premier League regulars for much of their history, with only a brief spell in the Championship from 2011 to 2012.
10Coates Family – Stoke City – £9.45 billion ($12.6 billion)
The Coates family, valued around £9.45 billion, initially purchased a majority share in their hometown club, Stoke City, in 1986, but sold it to an Icelandic consortium in 1999. Seven years later, the Coates family repurchased Stoke, and the Potters have had a wild ride ever since.
Stoke were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 2008, and they were a competent top-flight club for nearly a decade, reaching an FA Cup final, playing European football, and finishing three consecutive ninth places before being relegated in 2018.
The Potters have remained in the bottom half of the table since their relegation to the second division, and despite significant investment from the club, they have yet to finish higher than 14th since returning to the Championship, something they want to rectify this season under Mark Robins.
9Friedkin Group – Everton – £9.6 billion ($12.2 billion)
The Friedkin Group owns 99.5% of Everton and has a net value of £9.6 billion, having completed a majority acquisition of about £400 million from former owner Farhad Moshiri in December 2024.
Everton were trapped in a rut for years under Moshiri, languishing in the bottom half of the standings, but now, under Friedkin and David Moyes, Toffees fans are expecting for better days, with a top-half finish in the Premier League this season well within sight.
The Friedkin group now owns Italian club AS Roma and Everton, both of which have seen their fortunes improve since Friedkin’s acquisitions.
8Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris – Aston Villa – £10 billion combined ($12.47 billion)
Aston Villa is owned by V Sports, a holding company managed by Egyptian industrialist Nassef Sawiris and American financier Wes Edens, who are worth almost £10 billion combined.
V Sports owns Aston Villa and also has holdings in Vitoria S.C. in Portugal and Real Union in Spain, as well as relationships with ZED FC in Egypt and Vissel Kobe in Japan.
7Gamechanger 20 Ltd (ORG) – Ipswich Town – £10.8 billion ($14.2 billion)
According to the East Anglian Times, ORG, an American investment fund,’manages money on behalf of a big US pension pool – the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System – and owns 90% of Gamechanger 20 Ltd’.
Ed Schwartz is the primary representative of ORG and is in charge of the majority of investment in the club, having taken over the club while it was still in League One in 2020, playing a key role in their rise to the Premier League, with a net worth of approximately £10.8 billion.
6Shahid Khan – Fulham – £10.96 billion ($14.5 billion)
Shahid Khan is a Pakistani-American self-made millionaire who bought Fulham in 2013 and oversaw much of the club’s Premier League success at that time.
Khan, known for his unusual moustache, owns the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and co-owns All Elite Wrestling (AEW), with a net worth of about £10.96 billion ($14.5 billion).
5Stan Kroenke (Kroenke Sports and Entertainment) – Arsenal – £16.12 billion ($21.3 billion)
Stan Kroenke, an American businessman, owns more than 1.6 million acres of ranches in the United States and Canada, 60 million square feet of real estate, the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Colorado Rapids.
Kroenke became a shareholder at Arsenal in 2007 before acquiring full ownership of the club in 2018, and he has an individual net worth of $21.3 billion.
4City Football Group (Sheikh Mansour) – Manchester City – £23.8 billion ($30 billion)
Manchester City is owned by the City Football Group, which also owns 12 other clubs globally. CFG’s parent corporation is the Abu Dhabi United Group.
Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family and Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, purchased 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 )
Todd Boehly and BlueCo paid £4.25 billion for Chelsea in May 2022, after Russian businessman Roman Abramovich sold the club.
Clearlake Capital owns 61.5% of BlueCo, with Todd Boehly’s group holding the remaining 38.5%. Their combined net worth is approximately £23.8 billion ($30.5 billion), with Boehly having an individual net worth of $9.3 billion.
2Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe (INEOS) – Manchester United – £20.48 billion ($27.1 billion)
The Glazers bought United in 2005 for £790 million, then in 2023, they sold 25% of the club to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who raised his minority stake to 28.9% in a deal worth £1.25 billion.
Ratcliffe’s personal worth is estimated to be $17.1 billion, while the Glazers’ family net worth is $10 billion, bringing their combined net worth to 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. It has an unfathomable amount of riches that the normal person can’t comprehend.
albeit the PIF is a sovereign corporation rather than an individual’s personal wealth, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman acts as president, making Newcastle United the wealthiest club in England by a wide margin, albeit FFP prevents them from spending all of their cash.
PIF purchased Newcastle in October 2021 for £305 million from Sheffield Wednesday’s Mike Ashley, and as of July 2025, it has a stunning net value of $1.15 trillion.
xz
