Jeff Bezos to Acquire 30% Stake in Liverpool for £1.35bn
Liverpool are on the brink of welcoming one of the world’s richest men into their ownership structure, with Jeff Bezos part of a heavyweight consortium closing in on a 30 per cent stake in the club.
After months of negotiations with Fenway Sports Group (FSG), a group of investors led by Amit Bhatia is understood to have reached an agreement in principle to acquire almost a third of the Premier League side for around £1.35 billion (€1.58 billion). Completion is expected to take up to a month.
Bezos steps into football
Bezos, the Amazon founder and executive chair, will receive equity as part of the deal, which Deloitte is understood to have advised on. According to Forbes, the 62-year-old has a personal fortune of about $257 billion (€223 billion), ranking him as the fourth-richest person on the planet.
This will be his first investment in football. He has previously explored potential bids for NFL franchises, a sign of his long-standing interest in elite sport as a commercial and media vehicle.
He will not arrive alone. The consortium is fronted by Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and a former shareholder at Queens Park Rangers. Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, whose wealth is reported at $32 billion (€28 billion), is also part of the group.
Amazon’s growing sports footprint
Bezos’ move into Anfield fits a wider pattern. Under his leadership, Amazon has aggressively pushed into live sport as a pillar of its entertainment strategy, using streaming rights to pull in subscribers and advertising revenue.
Amazon previously held live UK rights for 20 Premier League matches per season for six seasons, a package that ended last year. It also broadcasts the Champions League in several European markets and carries NFL coverage in the United States.
The arrival of Bezos-linked money at Liverpool will inevitably fuel questions about how far that media-sport nexus could stretch, even with strict league rules on broadcast arrangements and competitive balance.
FSG’s evolving Liverpool project
FSG bought Liverpool in 2010 and have presided over a modern resurgence that has delivered two Premier League titles and re-established the club as a regular contender in Europe and at home. They have already tested the water on outside investment, selling a 3 per cent stake to US private equity firm Dynasty Equity in 2023.
This latest deal is on a completely different scale. A 30 per cent holding at a £1.35bn price point implies a towering valuation for the club and gives FSG both a cash injection and a fresh layer of strategic partners without surrendering control.
The timing is striking. Anfield has just gone through a summer of upheaval. Andoni Iraola has taken over as head coach from Arne Slot, ushering in a new era in the dugout. Mohamed Salah, one of the defining players of the FSG period, left on a free transfer and has joined Trabzonspor. Michael Edwards has stepped away from his role as chief executive officer at FSG, removing another familiar pillar of the previous structure.
Liverpool, in other words, are changing on and off the pitch at the same time.
FSG has been approached for comment.
