WHO IS JOSH KUSHNER, THE BILLIONAIRE WHO JUST BOUGHT THE LAKERS?

Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, speaks during the Hill & Valley forum at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

New York —  Josh Kushner doesn’t give many interviews or make public appearances often, but he’s keen on making headlines.

Kushner, the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, announced that he was teaming up with former Disney CEO Bob Iger to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for a record-breaking $12.5 billion.

It’s just one of many flashy deals and investments involving the 41-year-old as of late. His successful career as founder of Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm that raised more than $10 billion in its latest round, has served as a springboard to build his status as a powerful mogul.

“I think Thrive is a very small percentage of its potential. I feel like we’re just getting started,” Kushner said in a February podcast, frequently mentioning loyalty and humility as his core leadership values.

“I believe that my word, the word of the firm, is more important than anything else,” he continued.

Thrive has amassed a massive portfolio, ranging from early investments in high-profile technology companies like OpenAI and SpaceX, to trendy brands such as Spotify, Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS and movie studio A24. It’s also involved in sports, owning minority portions of the San Francisco Giants and the Miami Heat.

The New York-based firm also has an offshoot, called Thrive Holdings, which invests in companies that are working to modernize traditionally old-school industries through AI.

“I think this is the most important moment in our lifetimes. In many respects AI is underhyped,” Kushner said in a 2025 interview at the tech and policy summit The Hill & Valley Forum.

Kushner’s Thrive is also a pivotal investor in OpenAI, most recently funneling another $1 billion to the company in December, CNBC reported. He shares a close working relationship with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

“Josh makes high-conviction bets on high-quality companies and founders, and he doesn’t care too much about what other investors think. I feel a lot of camaraderie with that,” Altman told Fortune in 2024.

Josh, born in New Jersey, is the son of real estate tycoon Charles Kushner. He’s the younger brother of Jared Kushner, who is more well known these days as the son-in-law of President Donald Trump. His father Charles was pardoned by Trump in 2020 over a 2005 conviction on federal tax evasion charges.

Founder and CEO of Thrive Capital Josh Kushner attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference at the Sun Valley Lodge on July 10, 2026 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Josh, however, has largely steered clear of associating himself with the Trump family. Rather, he’s building one of his own with model Karlie Kloss, who married in 2018 and have three children. The pair are regulars at the Met Gala.

Still, the two have not been fully able to separate themselves from his family. (“Not even to dinner with the Kushners?,” one contestant on reality TV show Project Runway infamously quipped to Kloss over criticism about a dress designed for her.)

“I’m sure I’m not the only person in this country who does not necessarily agree with their family on politics,” Kloss said in a later interview. “… my man and I have been through a lot together and you know I’m so proud that he’s my partner.”

Kushner said in 2017 that “It is no secret that liberal values have guided my life and that I have supported political leaders that share similar values.”

Kushner also founded Oscar Health in 2012, a health insurance company that initially capitalized on the creation of the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and recently posted record profits.

According to Forbes, Kushner is worth about $5 billion.

Still, not all of his bets are successful: Last month Kushner’s Thrive Eternal was part of a controversial —and quickly scrapped — plan with FIFA to sell private stakes in upcoming World Cup tournaments. FIFA said that the money generated will be reinvested back into the sport.

Kushner’s purchase of the Lakers “serves as a way to put the FIFA controversy behind him quickly and almost turn a new leaf in the sports sector,” Mark Conrad, professor of law and ethics at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, told CNN over email.

“It certainly puts him on the map more than before,” he said.

- Jordan Valinsky and Ramishah Maruf

LIVERPOOL OWNERS CLOSE TO €1.58BN SALE OF 30% STAKE TO CONSORTIUM INCLUDING JEFF BEZOS

Group including Amazon founder has held talks with Fenway Sports Group

It is understood the deal is effectively agreed but may take up to a month to complete. Photograph: Jan Kruger/Getty Images

A consortium including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is close to completing a deal for a 30 per cent stake in Liverpool after months of talks with Fenway Sports Group.

The investors are led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who previously was a shareholder at Queens Park Rangers. Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is another member of the group who are set to pay in the region of £1.35 billion (€1.58 billion) for almost a third of the Premier League club. It is understood the deal is effectively agreed but may take up to a month to complete.

Bezos has a personal fortune of around $257 billion (€223 billion), according to Forbes, making him the fourth-richest person in the world, while Saverin is reportedly worth $32 billion (€28 billion). This will be Bezos’ first investment in football but he has previously looked into bidding for NFL franchises. The 62-year-old will receive equity as part of the deal, which it is understood Deloitte has advised on.

Bezos is the executive chair of Amazon having relinquished day-to-day control when he stepped down as chief executive five years ago. Under his leadership the online retailer has looked to diversify as an entertainment provider in recent years and has bought numerous sports rights for its streaming service.

Amazon had live UK rights for 20 Premier League games each season for six seasons until the end of last year, and broadcasts the Champions League in several European countries, as well as NFL in the US.

FSG bought the Merseyside club in 2010 and have overseen an era which has included two Premier League titles. FSG previously sold 3 per cent of the club to the US private equity firm Dynasty Equity in 2023.

It has been a summer of change at Anfield, with Andoni Iraola replacing Arne Slot as head coach, while Mohamed Salah left on a free transfer and has since joined Trabzonspor. Meanwhile, Michael Edwards departed his role as chief executive officer at FSG.

FSG has been approached for comment. 

– Guardian

- Will Unwin

BILLIONAIRE ATHLETES

 

David Beckham is a billionaire, worth $1 billion by our count—one of just seven living pro athletes (Jordan, Magic, Tiger, LeBron, Federer and retired Romanian tennis ace Ion Tiriac) to manage the feat.

Read more about how Beckham became a billionaire: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/2026/05/20/new-billionaire-david-beckham-on-his-family-team-and-legacy/?utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ForbesMainFB

- Forbes

SPECULATION MOUNTS OVER ADRIAN NEWEY'S ASTON MARTIN ROLE

F1 team has reportedly approached Audi's Jonathan Wheatley about taking over as team principal.

Getty Images 

• Newey likely to scale back role soon but replacement not confirmed

• Audi’s Wheatley is currently the most likely hire, according to ESPN

• Newey will switch focus to technical matters amid difficult start to season for Aston Martin

Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey remains at the helm of the Formula One team but speculation is mounting around the future of his role.

Autosport reported on Thursday that the 67-year-old was set to scale back his role, with current Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley named as his replacement.

However, a team spokesperson described the reports to BlackBook Motorsport as “rumour and speculation”.

The spokesperson added: “Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team remains fully committed to Adrian Newey as managing technical partner and team principal.”

Since then, ESPN has reported that Newey will step down from his role to focus on technical matters within the team. The report added that no deal has been agreed yet, but Wheatley is currently the most likely hire.

BBC Sport has also reported that Aston Martin has approached Wheatley about the role.

An Aston Martin spokesperson told ESPN and BBC Sport that the organisation “would not be engaging in media speculation about its senior leadership” and that Newey “continues to lead the team as team principal and managing technical partner”.

Newey officially joined the team, which is owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, on 1st March 2025 as managing technical partner before the surprise announcement that he would become team principal for the start of the 2026 season.

Known for being quiet and reserved, many felt the demands of team leadership were not suited to Newey’s technical prowess. Various reports indicate that Newey is assisting the search for his successor.

Newey and Wheatley know each other well from their time together at Red Bull Racing. The duo formed part of a hugely successful outfit that won six constructors’ championships between 2010 and 2023.

Wheatley has been team principal of Audi since the start of the 2025 season – when they raced under the Sauber name – and oversaw a dramatic shift from clear backmarkers the year prior to his arrival to a more competitive midfield team.

Aston Martin have suffered a terrible start to the 2026 season due to severe deficiencies with their Honda engine and will hope to benefit from Wheatley’s powers of recovery should he be appointed. However, prising him out of his current deal will be far from easy and could include a period of gardening leave.

If a deal is ultimately agreed, Newey may have to continue as team principal for some time as Audi would not want to bolster a direct rival at the start of a new phase of regulations.

According to ESPN, the plan was always for Newey’s role as team boss to be temporary, while the publication has also reported that any new hire would report to him in the new structure.

Other candidates approached for the role reportedly include Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase and former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl.

If Newey is ultimately replaced this season, his successor will be Aston Martin’s fifth team principal in the past six seasons.

- CIAN BRITTLE

CRISTIANO RONALDO BECOMES FIRST BILLIONAIRE

CRISTIANO RONALDO STILL MAKING HISTORY | BILLIONAIRE STATUS NOW

 

A NEW SPORTS BILLIONAIRE | ROGER FEDERER

Introducing sport's newest billionaire... Roger Federer!

The 20-time Grand Slam winner joins Tiger Woods and LeBron James in an elite club

Not even £100m of that was made on the court - lucrative brand deals and investments have made him a very wealthy man

His net worth has sky rocketed in the three years since his retirement

But he's still miles behind the world's richest athlete who is worth £2.55bn

NOTTINGHAM FOREST BILLIONAIRE OWNER STILL USES IPHONE 7 | EVANGELOS MARINAKIS

 

NICK SABAN ON TRACK TO BECOME THE FIRST BILLIONAIRE COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH

Nick Saban didn’t just retire as college football’s most decorated coach—he’s now poised to become its first billionaire, per Forbes.⁠

Since teaming up with Joe Agresti in 2013 to launch Dream Motor Group, Saban has parlayed his name and network into a powerhouse business venture. The group now moves 20,000 high-end vehicles annually across nine dealerships and is nearing $2 billion in revenue, thanks in part to a $730 million acquisition of two Miami-area megastores. Saban, a minority partner, doesn’t run daily ops—but his name, network, and business sense have helped him cash in big.⁠

Saban’s current playbook mirrors the one that made him a legend on the field—only now, it’s for boardrooms instead of locker rooms. Alongside Agresti and former Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon, he’s eyeing stakes in several pro sports teams and exploring international deals, blending business savvy with his trademark strategic mindset.⁠

Legend on and off the football field.

- Boardroom.com

EX ARSENAL PLAYER - MATHIEU FLAMINI IS WORTH £10BILLION

Back in 2008, Mathieu Flamini and his business partner, Pasquale Granata, founded 'GF Biochemicals' in an attempt to revolutionise the energy industry. 

Nearly 17 years after it was set up, the company is now worth £21 billion, with Flamini having a net worth of £10 billion.

PARIS FC'S BILLIONAIRE OWNERS HOPE KLOPP CAN HELP TRANSFORM THE CLUB

Antoine Arnault. Photo: Stephan Feugere

The Arnault family, owners of the LVMH luxury empire, plan to draw on Jürgen Klopp's expertise as part of an ambitious project to transform Paris FC into a force in French soccer.

The family's takeover of the second-tier club includes bringing energy drink giant Red Bull on board as a minority stakeholder. Klopp, the former Liverpool manager, is set to join Red Bull as head of global soccer in January.

"I've spoken with Klopp several times, and he's very, very excited about working with us," said Antoine Arnault, son of billionaire Bernard Arnault.

Arnault spoke Wednesday at a news conference at the team's training ground in Orly, located 14 miles south of Paris.

"We're not coming in alone," Arnault said. "Red Bull is by our side because we know what we're good at and what we're not. We have management skills, but none in football operations."

Arnault highlighted plans to leverage Red Bull's tools to tap into the Paris region's deep pool of soccer talent.

"Paris has probably the best talent pool in the world, rivaling only São Paulo," he said. "Red Bull's revolutionary data tools will greatly aid our scouting efforts."

Arnault also outlined plans for the family's majority stake.

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will begin his director role with Red Bull in January. Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

"This is a family project we started with my brothers and sister," Arnault told reporters. "We thought it was a good idea to venture into something more thrilling than our usual activities. Football has been my passion since I was 10 years old."

The family's holding company, Agache, will acquire a 52% stake in the club, while Red Bull will hold 11%. Arnault will represent Agache on Paris FC's board.

Current club president and owner Pierre Ferracci will retain 30% for now. He said the takeover has been approved by the French league, with the deal expected to be finalized on Nov. 29.

By 2027, the Arnault family is set to hold around 80% of the shares, with Red Bull increasing its stake to 15%.

The acquisition positions Paris FC as a potential rival to Paris Saint-Germain, the Qatari-backed powerhouse. However, Arnault downplayed any rivalry.

"PSG is a club I've loved since I was 12 years old," he said. "You'll never hear me say anything negative about it. I don't exclude supporting two clubs in the capital."

Arnault described the project as a long-term effort to elevate Paris FC's men's and women's teams to top-tier success.

Ferracci, who has led Paris FC since 2012, emphasized the importance of sustainable growth for the club.

"There's a sovereignty issue in football," Ferracci said, referring to the dominance of foreign ownership in French clubs. "If Paris FC can stand out with French investment, it would be a very good thing."

Created in 1969, Paris FC's men's team has yet to achieve any significant success. This year, they lead the Ligue 2 standings with more than half of the season remaining, and their women's team competes in France's top-tier league and the Women's Champions League.

"We're not doing this to make money," Arnault said. "We want to provide emotional experiences for fans. We were deeply inspired by the Olympics and their positive impact. While we are not used to wasting money, we'll work toward financial balance."

- Associated Press 

SINGAPORE SEIZES VALENCIA FANS' PASSPORT

Singapore police said on Thursday they were investigating a Spanish couple for protesting billionaire Peter Lim's ownership of LaLiga side Valencia and had impounded their passports.

Lim, 71, became the new majority owner of then debt-ridden Valencia in 2014 via his Hong Kong-based investment company Meriton Holdings. His ownership of the club has become deeply unpopular among the fan base who are unhappy with the selling of star players and a revolving door of managers.

Valencia are struggling in La Liga and are in the relegation zone, third from bottom of the table with just six points from their opening nine matches.

Police said a 34-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were helping in the investigation after the couple was found to have taken part in a "public assembly."

In Singapore, public assemblies include staging protests or publicising a cause and require an official permit.

The police did not name the couple but several media outlets including the BBC identified them as newlyweds Dani Cuesta and Mireia Sáez on their honeymoon in the city state.

Last week Cuesta posted on his X account photos of him holding a black and yellow banner that reads "Lim go home" at various locations in Singapore, including outside the billionaire's home. He also pasted a sticker saying "Lim out" on the gate of the businessman's compound.

Protest banners against Valencia owner Peter Lim are commonplace in Spain. Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images

The "Lim go home" banner is a common sight during regular fan protests in Spain. However, protests are frowned upon in tightly-regulated Singapore and those who take part without a permit can be fined up to $3,000.

The couple's family issued a statement asking the media to show discretion, saying the priority was to get them swiftly released and returned home.

Spain said its embassy in Singapore was providing assistance to those affected. Valencia said it hoped the issue could be resolved quickly

- Reuters 

'IT'S JUST BUSINESS': HOW STEVE COHEN RAN A HEDGE FUND LIKE A BASEBALL TEAM

Billionaire's decision to step back from trading and focus on running Point72 underlines redemption since SAC insider trading.

Getty 

Steve Cohen used to charter a yacht in the Mediterranean with friend and art dealer Larry Gagosian. But he never really switched off.

“We’d be in the middle of a wonderful dinner in Italy and he’d have to race back to the boat to trade,” said Gagosian, recalling how the hedge fund billionaire would have screens installed below deck to create a de facto trading floor.

“I said, Steve, I love you, and I love taking trips with you, but it’s not the most relaxing.”

However, after an investment career spanning almost half a century, Cohen, 68, announced this week he was stepping back from trading at Point72, the hedge fund he set up a decade ago, to focus on running the firm.

Point72, which manages around $35bn, rose from the ashes of an insider trading scandal at its predecessor SAC Capital that cost $1.8bn to settle, with Cohen subsequently barred for two years from managing external investors’ money.

As the firm has grown rapidly over the past few years, the relative size of Cohen’s trading book has shrunk — a letter to investors this week said it was less than 1 per cent of the firm’s overall portfolio.

“He believes his strategic guidance and intervention will have a greater impact” than his individual trading on the firm’s investment performance, the letter said.

Cohen has many other interests, ranging from ownership of his beloved New York Mets and philanthropy supporting veterans and children’s health to an art collection worth more than $1bn that includes works by Pablo Picasso, Jeff Koons and Alberto Giacometti. What distinguishes him as a collector is that he “is just as interested in seeing a new artist as going after a trophy”, said Gagosian, which is “not always the case”.

This week’s move underlines how Cohen is preparing Point72 to outlast him. The firm said he would be “taking a break from trading his own book”.

Born in 1956 and raised in Great Neck, New York, the third of seven siblings, Cohen credits playing poker at high school with teaching him “how to take risks”.

He began his investment career in 1978 trading options at brokerage Gruntal & Co before setting up SAC Capital in 1992, named after his initials.

The hedge fund industry was in its infancy and the early SAC was known for its cut and thrust atmosphere, juicy payouts for those who did well — and a disposable approach to talent.

Cohen was even known to fire people on the spot if they disappointed him, according to one person who used to work with him at SAC.

“Steve treated the business like a baseball team — if your shortstop is not performing then you trade him for someone else,” the person said. “There’s no personal relationship, it’s just business.”

Cohen surrounded himself with the top moneymakers but sitting close to him could be intimidating. He expected his employees to share his ferocious work ethic, quizzing them during Sunday meetings to prepare for market opening the following day.

“He is not an easy gentleman, he is not a wallflower,” said a second colleague from the SAC years. “He’s a very complicated individual but very smart, a very good trader and knows how to reinvent himself.”

Supporters of Cohen say his edge came from a seemingly instinctive ability to spot market patterns and, as the years rolled on, his experience.

“Whatever’s going on, he’s seen it all before . . . he has seen it and every iteration of it,” said the first person who worked with him.

From 1992 to 2013, SAC boasted annual returns of about 30 per cent, making it one of the world’s top performing hedge funds.

Investors clamoured for access, coughing up an annual management fee of roughly 3 per cent and up to an enormous 50 per cent performance fee, far higher than the industry standard “two and 20”.

Growing to manage more than $15bn at its peak, SAC’s returns seemed almost too good to be true. They were.

In 2013 a team of New York prosecutors led by US attorney Preet Bharara brought several charges against Cohen’s SAC Capital and affiliated firms. It alleged that insider trading at SAC was “substantial, pervasive and on a scale without known precedent in the hedge fund industry”.

They said numerous portfolio managers and research analysts obtained “material, non-public information” from “dozens” of listed companies and then traded on that inside information.

SAC incentivised portfolio managers or analysts that brought “high conviction” trading ideas to Cohen where they had an “edge” over the competition, the indictment said, with portfolio managers and analysts encouraged to pursue “industry contact networks” — but without effective controls to make sure they were not receiving inside information.

SAC Capital pleaded guilty in a $1.8bn settlement, the largest ever for insider trading. But prosecutors ultimately stopped short of charging Cohen — who did not admit personal fault — with criminal or civil insider trading charges, believing they did not have enough evidence.

For a time he appeared to retrench, managing his own money in Point72, which was set up as a family office.

By 2018 he had opened it up to external investors and after a difficult first year when the fund was flat, Point72 began, in Cohen’s customary baseball lingo, “hitting doubles” — gaining more than 10 per cent in every year except 2021.

Those who know him say that as the hedge fund industry has become more institutional and straight laced, Cohen has also mellowed with age.

But he still has his quirks. Ahead of one visit to the London office, the fridge was stocked with Dr Pepper, Skittles and Post-it notes warning “do not touch”, according to a person familiar with the situation, while the local team made sure the air conditioning was suitably cool for the boss.

Point72 employs 2,800 people, runs more than double the assets of SAC at its peak and marks one of the hedge fund industry’s greatest redemption stories.

In an unforgiving industry, Cohen is notable for his longevity, and regarded as a pioneer of the so-called multi-manager hedge fund approach, alongside Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Millennium Management’s Izzy Englander.

Like Pete Rose, the baseball player whose legacy was later soured by sports gambling, Cohen’s brush with the law means even the “best hitter ever” has a “little asterisk” next to his name, said one rival hedge fund manager who knows him.

But they added: “Stevie can still have another chapter.”

Cohen and Point72 declined to comment.

For Gagosian, his friend’s shift from player to coach may mean their holidays can resume.

“We stopped chartering boats together,” he said. “Maybe now we’ll do it again.”

- Costas Mourselas and Harriet Agnew 

COE TO HEAD MAN UNITED TASK FORCE AROUND NEW AND REBUILT OLD TRAFFORD

 

Reuters 

Manchester United do not plan to leave Old Trafford, the club confirmed on Friday, and have appointed Sebastian Coe as chair of a task force to study whether to renovate the 144-year-old stadium or build new on adjacent club-owned land.

The Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force comes on the heels of British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe's acquisition of a 27.7%stake in the club.

"This can be a major regeneration project for an area of Greater Manchester which has played such a key role in British industrial history, but which today requires new investment to thrive again," Ratcliffe said in a statement.

"The north-west of England has a greater concentration of major football clubs than anywhere else in the world, yet we don't have a stadium on the scale of Wembley, the Nou Camp or the Bernabeu.

"We will not be able to change that on our own, which is why this task force is so important to help us seize this once-in-a-century opportunity."

Ratcliffe's initial conclusion was that a new-build would be the best solution and the club's board is supportive of exploring this route.

Coe is the former chair of the 2012 London Olympics organising committee and current president of World Athletics.

Other members of the task force include Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, Sara Todd, Chief Executive of Trafford Council, and Gary Neville, former captain of Manchester United, among others.

United want to be equipped to handle international games and major finals plus provide a modernised home for the club, they said, but were keen to stay in the Old Trafford area to remain rooted to their historic home. Old Trafford opened in 1910 and last had renovations in 2006.

Ratcliffe committed 237 million pounds ($304.50 million) of his own money for improvement in infrastructure, though any project would cost considerably more and so the club will explore public-private partners.

"It is very encouraging to see the emphasis being put on fan consultation, and exciting to see the vision and ambition behind this project, not only to put Old Trafford back on among the world's leading football stadiums, but for it to form part of a wider regeneration," said task force member Duncan Drasdo, CEO of Manchester United Supporters Trust.

"Fans are the heartbeat of any football stadium.

($1 = 0.7783 pounds)

- Lori Ewing 

RADCLIFFE INVOKES WORDS OF FERGUSON ON SETTING OUT 3-YEAR PLAN TO END CITY AND LIVERPOOL DOMINANCE

AP Photo 

 MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Invoking the famous words of Alex Ferguson, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe set out his ambition to knock local rivals Manchester City and Liverpool “off their perch” within three years after becoming a co-owner of Manchester United.

Ratcliffe completed his purchase of a minority stake in United on Tuesday, with an initial injection of $1.5 billion meaning he owns approximately 27.7% of the iconic club — with the promise of further investment of $100 million by the end of the year.

Ratcliffe, 71, now partly owns a club he has supported since the age of 6 but which has been in the shadow of City and Liverpool over the past decade since the retirement of Ferguson in 2013.

Ferguson once said his greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool “right off their perch,” with United managing to surpass its great rival’s tally of 18 league titles before Ferguson retired. The Scot also once branded City as the “noisy neighbors” in 2010.

phrases in his first public words since officially becoming co-owner.

“We have a lot to learn from our noisy neighbor and the other neighbor. They are the enemy at the end of the day,” Ratcliffe said. “There is nothing I would like better than to knock both of them off their perch. Equally, we are the three great northern clubs who are very close to one another.

“They have been in a good place for a while and there are things we can learn from both of them. They have sensible organizations, great people within the organizations, a good, driven and elite environment that they work in. I am very respectful of them but they are still the enemy.”

Ratcliffe said it would not be an “overnight change.”

“It’s going to take two or three seasons,” he said. “You have to ask the fans for some patience. I know the world these days likes instant gratification but that’s not the case with football, really.

“It’s not a 10-year plan. The fans would run out of patience if it was a 10-year plan. But it’s certainly a three-year plan to get there.”

WHAT IS ON RATCLIFFE AND INEOS' TO-DO LIST

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his company will have some influence over the football side of the business now the investment deal is complete. Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images

After months of negotiations, British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe (chairman and CEO of chemical company INEOS) has finally completed a deal to acquire a 25% stake in Manchester United for around £1.25 billion ($1.6bn).

Sources told ESPN's Rob Dawson that the deal will give Ratcliffe some influence over the football side of the business, with Sir Dave Brailsford, director of sport at INEOS, expected to be heavily involved. But United's unpopular American owners, the Glazer family, will keep their majority shareholding after they rejected bids for a full takeover worth around £5bn from both Ratcliffe and Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

Sources added that Ratcliffe is ready to invest funds to improve both the Old Trafford stadium and Carrington training ground, but what should the focus be now the paperwork has been signed?

In a 25-year career, ESPN's Tor-Kristian Karlsen has worked at a number of clubs in a variety of countries including England, Germany, Russia, France, Israel and Norway -- in roles such as chief executive, sporting director, chief scout -- and is well qualified to answer that question. So here's his to-do list for Ratcliffe and the United hierarchy.

MANCHESTER UNITED ANNOUNCES DEAL TO SELL UP TO 25% OF EPL CLUB TO UK BILLIONAIRE JIM RATCLIFFE

AP Photo 

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — After failing to win the Premier League in the last 10 years, Manchester United announced Sunday that it had agreed to sell a minority stake in the storied club to Jim Ratcliffe in a deal that would also see the British billionaire and boyhood fan take control of its soccer operations.

“We all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football,” Ratcliffe said Sunday.

The record 20-time league champions have not won the title since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, prompting increased anger toward the Glazer family, United's American owners.

The announcement of a deal came more than a year after the club was put up for sale.

Ratcliffe, who owns petrochemicals giant INEOS and is one of Britain’s richest people, has secured a stake of “up to 25%” in United and will invest $300 million in its Old Trafford stadium.

Ratcliffe will provide $200 million upon completion of the deal and a further $100 million by the end of 2024, United said. In total the deal will be worth around $1.6 billion, including the $300 million of funding.

The deal is subject to approval by the Premier League.

BILLIONAIRE MUSIC MEGA STAR & BUSINESSWOMAN RIHANNA AT THE FERRARI GARAGE | LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2023 | 🇺🇸

 

BILLIONAIRE MAGIC JOHNSON