Moshiri calls time on Everton
Plus, West Ham’s Daniel Křetínský discusses takeover chatter
In the old days, football fans wanted a sugar daddy owner who could fund extravagant spending sprees in the transfer market to power their club to trophies.
Farhad Moshiri appeared to fit the bill. The British-Iranian bought into Everton in 2016 and took majority control two years later. He invested at least £750mn into the club to start construction on a new stadium and snap up players.
Except his cash never paid off on the pitch. When business partner Alisher Usmanov was sanctioned in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it exposed how reliant Everton had become on external capital. The club had to cut commercial ties with Usmanov-backed USM, while Moshiri’s own shares in the Russian company were put out of reach.
Following months of talks, Moshiri has now agreed to sell his 94 per cent stake in Everton to Miami-based firm 777 Partners, a serial collector of football clubs. It will mark a stark change in approach. Josh Wander, 777 co-founder, told the FT just a couple of week ago that fans “want to be monetised”.
The deal shows that one rich man is no longer enough in football ownership, as the numbers get bigger, the stakes get higher. A different breed of benefactors (sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms) are getting in on club ownership, while scrutiny of who is in charge intensifies.
Even so, £750mn should have bought a competitive team, not one scraping to avoid relegation. Dud signings, payouts to former managers and a capital-intensive new stadium are a bad combination.
It all fed in to the renewed push for financial sustainability in football, the theory being that clubs shouldn’t rely on one man’s wealth, or run up big debts while losing money. Look out this Sunday for a deeper FT dive on how football’s governing bodies are adapting the sport’s financial regulations to make clubs more business minded.
In the meantime, we give you more on private equity’s latest sports investment, and dish up an exclusive interview with West Ham United shareholder Daniel Křetínský, one of Europe’s richest men.