Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams join forces to buy Chelsea

Chelsea continues to be submerged in an institutional crisis after the departure of Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich. Now, the London club is waiting for a new president, who could have seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams among his biggest investors. Both would go on Sir Martin Broughton’s ticket.

Both the pilot and the tennis player would contribute an investment of 12 million euros each, according to reports Sky News. A source explained to this medium that the inclusion of Hamilton and Williams is a “serious business decision”, since their experience in the development of “global sports brands” is valued. He also recalled that it is not the first time that sports personalities have invested in an English Premier League club. Lebron James himself has had a small stake in Liverpool for a decade.

Hamilton and Serena Williams, staunch advocates of diversity, equality and inclusion, have been in business for many years. As for the Briton, eighth athlete with the highest earnings in 2021, (67.5 million euros), he is also known for his real estate investments, his car collection valued at 17.5 million or cinema and music as his next projects. .

“I love looking at startups, talking to founders, and passing on the knowledge I was able to gain from other people,” says Serena Williams.

For her part, Serena Williams is passionate about the world of investments. So much so that, according to her, she spends between six or seven hours a day on it. “I love looking at startups, talking to founders, and passing on the knowledge I was able to gain from other people.” She owns the Serena Ventures fund, and also has a 0.5% stake in the Miami Dolphins of the NFL, in addition to having a clothing line with her name and signing a television contract with Amazon Studios. With estimated earnings of 87 million euros, she is the athlete who has won the most on the tennis courts (more than double that of any other athlete).

With them, the consortium led by Sir Martin Broughton Broughton also includes former athlete Sebastian Coe, the Canadian Rogers family, the Taiwanese Tsai family, owner of the Taipei Fubon Braves baseball teams, and John Arnold, who chaired the bid committee for Houston to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Broughton, a British national, is one of the three candidates to buy Chelsea, along with Americans Steven Pagliuca, owner of Atalanta de Bergamo and the Boston Celtics, and Todd Boehly, owner of the LA Dodgers. Broughton was a former chairman of British Airways and Liverpool FC.

“We can provide stability. That’s an important part of having a consortium. When you depend on just one, you run geopolitical risks and financial risks, even health risks, where one incident can create confusion and chaos in the club. A consortium brings stability to long term with like-minded, highly capitalized people who are in it for the long haul,” Broughton said.