Jeff Bezos Set for Landmark Liverpool Stake in £1.35bn Deal
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 fronted by Amit Bhatia is understood to have reached agreement on a deal worth around £1.35 billion (€1.58 billion) for just under a third of the Premier League side. Completion could still take several weeks as the final legal and regulatory steps are ticked off, but the broad terms are in place.
Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, is no stranger to English football. He previously held a stake in Queens Park Rangers and served as vice-chairman at Loftus Road. This time, though, he arrives with far greater financial firepower behind him.
Alongside him in the consortium sits Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, whose personal wealth is estimated at $32 billion (€28 billion). The headline name, however, is Bezos. The Amazon founder, worth around $257 billion (€223 billion) according to Forbes and ranked as the fourth-richest person on the planet, is set to receive equity as part of the agreement, in what would be his first formal investment in football.
Bezos has long circled elite sport from the outside. He has previously explored potential bids for NFL franchises and, under his leadership, Amazon moved aggressively into the sports broadcasting arena. The company’s streaming arm has carried live UK rights for 20 Premier League matches per season across six seasons up to the end of last year, as well as Champions League coverage in several European territories and NFL games in the United States.
Now, the 62-year-old’s relationship with football is poised to move from the broadcast booth to the boardroom. Deloitte is understood to have advised on the transaction, which would mark one of the most high-profile minority investments in European football to date.
For FSG, it is another recalibration rather than a retreat. The Boston-based group, which took control of Liverpool in 2010, has presided over a modern renaissance on Merseyside, a period that has brought two Premier League titles and a return to the European elite. In 2023, FSG sold a 3 per cent stake to US private equity firm Dynasty Equity, signalling a willingness to bring in outside capital while retaining overall control.
The latest move comes at a time of upheaval at Anfield. This summer has already delivered a new head coach, a departing icon and a reshuffled hierarchy. Andoni Iraola has taken over from Arne Slot in the dugout, tasked with steering a squad that has just lost Mohamed Salah, who left on a free transfer and has since joined Trabzonspor. Off the pitch, Michael Edwards has stepped away from his role as chief executive officer at FSG, underlining the sense of transition at ownership level.
The arrival of Bezos and his fellow investors would inject staggering financial clout into that evolving picture, even if FSG remain majority owners. For a club already used to walking the tightrope between tradition and modern commercial reality, the presence of one of tech’s defining figures on the shareholder register would push Liverpool even further into the era of global capital and streaming-era powerbrokers.
FSG has been approached for comment.
