Jeff Bezos has set his sights on Liverpool: billionaires are reshaping football assets.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is estimated at over $280 billion, is on the verge of a major deal in the world of sports. The matter concerns the acquisition of a minority stake in the English football club Liverpool. According to my information, a consortium of investors, which includes Bezos, is vying for a stake exceeding 30%.
The negotiations are in their final stages, and an announcement about the deal could come as early as this week. The syndicate is being managed by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. The consortium also includes Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, who previously attempted to acquire London's Chelsea at an auction in 2022.
Valuation and deal structure
The key question is the price. Liverpool's current valuation is approximately $6 billion. This is a significant jump: back in 2010, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the club's current owner, acquired it for just £300 million. Even in 2023, when Dynasty Equity bought a small stake, the club was valued at $4.5 billion. Thus, the potential deal with Bezos caps off 16 years of successful work by FSG, which turned the club into one of the most valuable assets in global football.
FSG has already confirmed the consortium's interest in strategic investment. This is not merely a billionaire buying a toy, but a measured investment in an asset with growing capitalization. It is telling that Bezos, who previously had not been involved in football deals, now views sports as an independent investment vehicle.
Context: Amazon at its peak
It is worth noting that the news of the negotiations coincided with historic highs for Amazon shares. On Friday, the stock closed at $274.48, gaining 0.82% for the day. Over the year, shares have risen 24.2%, and since the start of January — by 18.65%. The company's market capitalization exceeded $3 trillion for the first time on August 3, although that level could not be maintained — Amazon is now worth around $2.96 trillion.
The growth driver is the cloud business Amazon Web Services; analysts are raising target prices, with the most optimistic estimate reaching $400 per share. Notably, Bezos this month completed a pre-planned sale of Amazon shares worth $4 billion — this was part of an approved plan, not a speculative operation.
My view: Bezos's entry into Liverpool's capital is a signal that the world's largest fortunes view football clubs as undervalued assets with enormous monetization potential, especially in the context of global growth in streaming rights and merchandising. The only question is whether the new partners will remain passive investors or begin a fight for full control. Given Bezos's ambitions, I would not rule out the latter scenario.