While sports team ownership has landed multiple billionaires around the world, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are two of the world’s richest people and have yet to add this investment to their portfolio. Two of their rivals may be doing just that.
Jeff Bezos, Eduardo Saverin Liverpool Stake
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos was rumored to be a buyer of the National Football League’s Washington Commanders and the currently up-for-sale Seattle Seahawks. Bezos hasn’t submitted a formal bid for a football team in America, but it appears that the other football (soccer) is on his mind.
A Sky News report says Bezos is part of a consortium led by Amit Bhatia that is set to acquire a 30% or more stake in English Premier League (EPL) team Liverpool. The ownership group also includes Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who settled a lawsuit against the social media company in 2009. Saverin and Zuckerberg went from friends to enemies during the early days of the social media company. The Facebook co-founder was previously part of a group that tried to acquire EPL team Chelsea in 2022.
Bhatia is a British-Indian investor and entrepreneur, who previously was a shareholder in soccer club Queens Park Rangers.
The stake would value Liverpool at $6 billion according to the report. Fenway Sports Group is the current majority shareholder. The group acquired the team in 2010 for around $380 million. The valuation for the Liverpool stake could be good news for publicly traded EPL team Manchester United (NYSE:MANU).
Manchester United was valued at $7.2 billion by Forbes earlier this year, as the most valuable EPL team and third most valuable soccer team globally. The team currently trades with a market capitalization of $3.66 billion and enterprise value of $4.67 billion. Liverpool was ranked fourth among soccer clubs and second among EPL teams with a $6.2 billion valuation by Forbes earlier this year.
Fenway Sports Group previously sold a small stake to Dynasty Equity in 2023 at a $4.5 billion valuation.
Liverpool is one of the top EPL teams in recent years, winning the league championship in the 2024-2025 and 2019-2020 seasons. Over the last 10 years, the team has two first-place finishes, three second-place finishes, two third-place finishes, one fourth-place finish, and two fifth-place finishes.
One of those fifth-place finishes happened last season, along with a coach firing and the exit of a top scorer, putting more pressure on the club for the 2025-2026 season, set to begin Aug. 21, 2026.
The stake sale could be announced this week, according to the report. Amazon would be on potential watch as the sale to Bezos could impact the company’s Prime Video segment from soccer media rights currently held or bid on in the future that include the EPL or tournaments that Liverpool play in.
Famous Soccer Owner List Grows
The list of former athletes, current athletes, celebrities and billionaires buying up soccer teams or stakes in teams continues to grow.
Could NBA star LeBron James be one of those buyers and a person who could benefit significantly from the Liverpool stake sale?
James previously owned a 2% stake in Liverpool that he turned into a 1% stake in Fenway Group Sports. Sports writer Darren Rovell tweeted that the 2% stake in Liverpool was around $6.5 million in 2011 based on a $325 million valuation. That stake would be worth around $113 million based on the new stake from Bezos and company.
Liverpool competes in the EPL against Ipswich Town FC, a team that counts singer Ed Sheeran as a part-owner. AFC Bournemouth has actor Michael B. Jordan as a part-owner. Will Ferrell is a part-owner of Leeds United.
Other English soccer teams in lower levels have many famous names as owners or part-owners, including:
- Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney: Wrexham AFC
- Tom Brady: Birmingham City
- Dude Perfect: Burnley
- J.J. Watt, Kealia Watt: Burnley
- Snoop Dogg: Swansea City
Outside of England, the list of soccer team owners includes many familiar names, including Matthew McConaughey, Patrick Mahomes, Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams, Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, and Jennifer Garner.
Elon Musk Not a Buyer, Yet
Musk made headlines in 2022 sharing on social media that he was going to buy the English Premier League team Manchester United.
“Also, I’m buying Manchester United, ur welcome,” Musk tweeted at the time.
He clarified that this was part of an ongoing joke, but highlighted this team as the one he would buy if he ever did buy a team.
"Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid," Musk tweeted.
Musk’s father, Errol Musk, previously suggested his son was interested in buying Liverpool.
“Oh yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s buying it,” Errol Musk said in an interview with Times Radio. “He would like to, yes, obviously, anybody would want to. So would I.”
The elder Musk declined to comment further, saying that the team would “raise the price,” given news of the interest.
Errol Musk said the family has relatives in Liverpool and it is the birthplace of the billionaire’s grandmother.
Manchester United and Liverpool are around 35 miles apart, and their matches are often labeled as the “Northwest Derby.”
Image via Shutterstock
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