Who is Todd Boehly, the new owner of Chelsea?

The American was on Saturday announced as the new club chief after Roman Abramovic put it on sale.

Todd Boehly has been announced as the new owner of Chelsea FC. The Premier League outfit was previously owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. However, his announcement of selling the club came on the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions on Russian nationals by the United Kingdom government. 

A consortium led by Todd Boehly has won the bidding process and become owners of the London-based club. The club went through a difficult phase after Abramovich’s assets were frozen by the UK government. There were major doubts over the functioning of the club, but the future looks brighter.

With the new owners set to come in, Chelsea will head into a new era. However, a section of the fans is not completely educated on the background of the new potential owner. On that note, here is a look at the things one needs to know about Todd Boehly:

An American businessman

Todd Boehly is an American businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder, chairman, CEO and controlling member of Eldridge Industries, a holding company based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Furthermore, he is the interim CEO of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

He graduated in 1991 from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. He also graduated with a BBA in Finance from graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1996. Later, Boehly came to study at the London School of Economics. Moving on to the start of his professional career, Boehly worked at Citibank and CS First in Boston before moving on to Guggenheim Partners in 2001.

Todd played a role in a deal between Time Warner Cable and the Los Angeles Dodgers to create SportsNet LA - which broadcasts events pertaining to the baseball franchise. 

Net worth and other owned sports teams

According to Forbes, Todd Boehly’s net worth is in the region of £3.6 billion. He is the co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The baseball franchise is a seven-time MLB World Series winning team and last won the major title in 2020. The businessman also has stakes in 17-time NBA winners the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Sparks women’s basketball team. 

Todd Boehly fended off Jim Ratcliffe - the wealthiest man in Britain - to successfully take over the Blues. The consortium also consists of Dodgers co-owner Mark Walters, British businessman Jonathan Goldstein, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and US investment firm Clearlake Capital.

It is interesting to note that the aim of buying Chelsea is not recent for Boehly. He made an attempt to purchase the club from Roman Abramovich back in 2019 for $3 billion. However, the previous owner rejected the takeover bid as there were no plans to sell the club. 

Challenges ahead

The fans of the club will hope that the new ownership helps the club win trophies, bring in world-class talent and shows a passion similar to their previous owner. Roman Abramovich’s reign since 2003 saw the club elevate itself to the top, winning every trophy it possibly could. He was essential in breaking the hegemony of Manchester United and Arsenal at the start of the century. 

Todd Boehly led consortium has big shoes to fill. The squad itself needs a lot of reinforcement as well. Overcoming teams like Manchester City and Liverpool is a major challenge too.

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