The Chelsea chairman is ‘confident’ he has the funds
Chelsea are on the verge of an in-club civil war as co-owner Todd Boehly looks to buy out his fellow consortium partners following a breakdown in relations.
Despite Boehly representing the face of the club as chairman, the American is not the majority shareholder of the club, however, this could soon change.
Currently the club’s ownership is formed of a consortium under the title BlueCo and is made up of Todd Boehly, Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, American Mark Walter and majority shareholders Clearlake Capital.
Based in America, Clearlake Capital is owned by Behdad Eghbali and José Feliciano and are reported to own about 61.5% of the club while Boehly only owns 13%.
However, many fans would be forgiven for not knowing too much about Eghbali and Feliciano, as Boehly has been the face of the new ownership since buying the club from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in July 2022.
Originally Boehly was given control of sporting decisions, however, Eghbali has now become more hands on with both businessmen having different ideas on how the club should be run.
Meanwhile no decision can be signed off on at Chelsea without the approval from Eghbali, Feliciano and Boehly.
Boehly and Eghbali were never particularly close, but recent months have tested this working relationship and things appear to be reaching breaking point.
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Both owners now want to buy each other, but hit a stalemate with neither wanting to give up their shares.
Boehly is the more interested and, according to the Sun, the 50-year-old is confident he has a £2.5 billion fund to help him do so, raised through other investors.
However, as mentioned, Clearlake Capital do not want to sell, although Boehly believes the money on the table could be enough to tempt the majority owners into selling, helping put an end to the internal conflict.
Meanwhile, Clearlake Capital would happily buy the rest of Boehly’s shares if he decided to leave and could easily afford the cost.
For Clearlake there are only two options, have a conversation and resolve the internal fighting, or buy out Boehly.
One thing is for sure, Chelsea fans can expect drama on and off the pitch for the foreseeable future.
