With a dozen major European soccer teams forming their own super league, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and many fans are lashing out at the clubs’ owners, such as American billionaires John Henry (Liverpool), Stan Kroenke (Arsenal), and the Glazer family (Manchester United).
‘It’s crazy how American owners are actually destroying football,’ one British soccer fan wrote on Twitter amid a wave of criticism directed at the EPL’s American-born club owners.
Earlier, the 12 teams planning to start the breakaway Super League told the leaders of FIFA and UEFA that they have begun legal action aimed at fending off threats to block the competition.
Tom Werner, chairman of Liverpool, poses with Jurgen Klopp and John W Henry, Principal owner, with wife Linda Pizzuti
With a dozen major European soccer clubs attempting to break away from their domestic circuits to start their own super league, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin (pictured) and many fans are lashing out at the clubs’ owners, such as American billionaires John Henry (Liverpool), Stan Kroenke (Arsenal), and the Glazer family (Manchester United)
The letter was sent by the group to Ceferin and FIFA President Gianni Infantino saying the Super League has already been underwritten by funding of 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) from American bank JPMorgan Chase.
Currently, teams have to qualify each year for the Champions League through their domestic leagues, but the Super League would lock in 15 places every season for the founding members. The seismic move to shake up the sport is partly engineered by the American owners of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, who also run franchises in closed U.S. leagues — a model they are trying to replicate in Europe.
Ceferin showed his sense of anger and betrayal by the owners, or ‘snakes,’ and said he wished the UEFA could ban Super League clubs and players ‘as soon as possible’ from all of its competitions.
Whether UEFA’s lawyers will advise that — with the Champions League and Europa League semifinals starting next week, and Euro 2020 kicking off in June — is unclear.
‘I cannot stress more strongly at the moment that UEFA and the football world stand together alongside this disgraceful, self-serving project from a select few clubs in Europe fueled by greed above all else,’ Ceferin said. ‘This idea is a spit in the face of all football lovers and our society as well. We must not let them take [football] away from us. I have seen many things in my life, I was a criminal lawyer for 24 years. I’ve seen many people. I’ve never seen anyone like that.’
In this file photo taken on August 19, 2016 Manchester United’s US co-chairmen Joel Glazer (R) and Avram Glazer (L) attend the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford in Manchester
Many Manchester United fans were already displeased with the Glazer family before Sunday’s news was announced
Ceferin spoke following a UEFA executive committee meeting and said some ‘legal assessments’ will begin Tuesday morning. The meeting was held only hours after the English, Italian and Spanish clubs announced the Super League project that threatens to split the historic structure of European soccer.
‘They will not be able to represent their national teams at any matches,’ Ceferin earlier warned. ‘UEFA and the footballing world stand united against the disgraceful self-serving proposal we have seen in last 24 hours from a select few clubs in Europe that are fueled purely by greed above all else.’
The reaction from fans was instantaneous and almost entirely directed at Americans like Henry.
‘I believe in an improved Champions League, not the rich stealing what the people created, which is the most beautiful sport on the planet,’ said Spanish soccer star Ander Herrera.
‘Don’t let the owners forcing through the Super League hide behind their club’s name,’ read a tweet from one fan. ‘It’s not Liverpool and Manchester United you’re angry at. It’s Fenway Sports Group. John Henry. Joel Glazer. [Chelsea owner Roman] Abramovich. Tottenham chairman Daniel] Levy. Kroenke. [Manchester City owner Sheikh] Mansour. And the rest.
‘Confront their cowardice.’
‘This man is a criminal,’ wrote another fan alongside a picture of Henry. ‘Football has been ruined. I think I speak on behalf of all Liverpool fans and football fans when I say this has been the worst day in Football history. John Henry and FSG are a f***ing disgrace.’
Another fan accused Henry and his company, the Fenway Sports Group, of ‘[stabbing Liverpool coach] Jurgen Klopp in the back.’
The EPL’s other American owners were hardly spared.
‘Glazer family is ready to put our history in the trash,’ wrote one fan. ‘No respect for the football club or the fans.’
Arsenal’s US owner Stan Kroenke waits for kick off in the English FA Cup final football match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley stadium in London on May 27, 2017
Arsenal fans hold up a banner against Arsenal’s majority owner Stan Kroenke during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates Stadium in London on May 21, 2017
One fan pointed out the similarities between Arsenal’s move into a European super league and Kroenke’s decision to move one of his other teams, the Los Angeles Rams, away from its fans in St. Louis in 2015.
‘In 2015 Kroenke moved the St. Louis Rams away from there (sic) passionate fan base in St. Louis to LA which is 1,826 miles away all because the team would get more revenue in LA,’ wrote the fan of the Rams’ return to Los Angeles. ‘This is the type of people who would run the European Super League who care about the money not the fans.’
While some pointed the finger at other foreigners, like Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (Russia) and Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak (Abu Dhabi), many fans placed the blame squarely at the feet of the Americans.
‘Kroenke, Glazers and FSG are all vice-chairmen of proposed Super League,’ the fan wrote. ‘It’s crazy how American owners are actually destroying football while lies and racism towards City’s owners is normalized.’
UEFA’s 55 member federations are gathering for an annual meeting on Tuesday, including 24 nations that are playing in Euro 2020.
Three of the 12 rebels — Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid — are scheduled to play in the Champions League semifinals next week. Two more, Manchester United and Arsenal, are in the Europa League semifinals.
UEFA warned the Super League clubs, including Barcelona and Juventus, that legal action would be taken against them and said they also would be barred from existing domestic competitions like the Spanish league and the Premier League.
One fan pointed out the similarities between Arsenal’s move into a European super league and Kroenke’s decision to move one of his other teams, the Los Angeles Rams, away from its fans in St. Louis in 2015
‘We are concerned that FIFA and UEFA may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions,’ the Super League clubs wrote to Infantino and Ceferin in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
‘Your formal statement does, however, compel us to take protective steps to secure ourselves against such an adverse reaction, which would not only jeopardize the funding commitment under the Grant but, significantly, would be unlawful. For this reason, SLCo (Super League Company) has filed a motion before the relevant courts in order to ensure the seamless establishment and operation of the Competition in accordance with applicable laws.’
The courts were not named.
‘It is our duty, as SLCo’s board members, to ensure that all reasonable actions available to protect the interests of the Competition and our stakeholders are duly taken, given the irreparable damage that would be suffered if, for any reason, we were deprived of the opportunity to form promptly the Competition and distribute the proceeds of the Grant,’ the Super League letter continued.
The Super League intends to launch a 20-team competition with 15 founding members but only 12 have currently signed up. The others are Liverpool and Tottenham from England, Atletico Madrid from Spain, and AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy.
The breakaway was launched just as UEFA thought it had agreement on an expansion of the Champions League from 2024. Now, the same officials who backed the plans have decided to go it alone while claiming the existing competitions could remain — despite losing their most successful teams, including record 13-time European champion Real Madrid and six-time winner Liverpool.
Owner of Liverpool FC John W Henry and his wife Linda Pizzuti. Henry is one of the billionaire backers behind the European Super League
John Henry, owner of Liverpool and Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox
John W Henry, the 71 year-old owner of Liverpool and MLB’s Boston Red Sox, has an estimated wealth of $2.7bn and also owns the Boston Globe newspaper.
His company, Fenway Sports Ventures, also has stakes in Roush Fenway Racing (NASCAR) and one of the Boston Red Sox minor league affiliates.
Henry made his money from hedge funds and trading company JW Henry and Co before buying the Red Sox with his partner Tom Werner – the Liverpool chairman.
Under their control in 2004 the Red Sox won a first World Series in 86 years. They also ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait for a championship when they lifted the Premier League last season.
In 2016, he splashed out an eye-watering £68 million on a new 215-foot super-yacht which can reportedly accommodate 12 overnight guests in a master suite, three double cabins and two twins, and up to 17 crew in separate quarters.
Among the yacht’s most noteworthy features are an ornate fireplace in the main saloon, an infinity pool located aft of the main deck, an elevator, a spa center, a gym and a helipad located on the bow.
Henry is married to Linda Pizzuti, who is 30 years younger than him. His courtship of her was leaked by publications in Boston in 2009, the year they got married
Henry put his Florida mansion up for sale in 2018 for $25 million before knocking off $10million a year later.
Dubbed the ‘House of Peace’, he bought the six-acre plot in 1991 for $850,000 (£646,000) so stands to make an astonishing profit despite his price-cut. It is unclear if the mansion has been sold since.
The property, based in the Le Lac neighborhood in Boca Raton and has seven bedrooms and 14.5 bathrooms across 27,832 square feet.
On the main level, there’s a foyer with a sweeping staircase and a two-story living room. Elsewhere, there is a home cinema, a sports bar, a library with cherry wood walls, a gym, a loft with card tables, an underground wine cellar and a recording studio.
There is also a swimming pool with cabana seating, an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven, a clay tennis court and a pair of motor courts.
Henry was briefly portrayed in the 2011 film Moneyball, which follows Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane and his quest to build a winning team in 2002. Beane turns down an offer from Henry to become the new GM of the Red Sox but the team goes on to win the 2004 World Series by implementing many of his ideas.
Henry was married to first wife Peggy between 1993 and 2008. In 2009, he married Linda Pizzuti, who is 30 years younger than him. His courtship of her was leaked by publications in Boston in 2009, the year they got married.
The mogul has a daughter with Peggy, and a son and daughter with Linda.
Henry put his stunning Florida mansion up for sale in 2018 for $25 million before knocking off $10million a year later
Dubbed the ‘House of Peace’, he bought the six-acre plot in 1991 for $850,000 (£646,000) so stands to make an astonishing profit despite his price-cut
It is unclear if the mansion has been sold since. The property, based in the Le Lac neighbourhood in Boca Raton and has seven bedrooms and 14.5 bathrooms across 27,832 square feet
In 2016, he splashed out an eye-watering £68 million on a new 215-foot super-yacht which can reportedly accommodate 12 overnight guest in a master suite, three double cabins and two twins, and up to 17 crew in separate quarters
In one email sent to her after watching a Boston Celtics NBA game, he wrote: ‘A brief encounter-and-a-half with you gave a cool spin to this little blue planet from my vantage point.
‘I barely know you. I don’t have any illusions about capturing your heart. It’s the small things that ultimately matter. The subtle things. I am honest. I don’t play games. And I see no reason not to say that I’ve been smitten by you and you’ve done me a great service. You’ve very innocently made my world brighter, better, lighter and warmer.’
Pizzuti has a Masters degree in real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she graduated from at the age of 26.
She served as the managing director of the Boston Globe for seven years before being appointed chief executive officer of Boston Globe Media Partners last year.
Stan Kroenke, owner of Arsenal, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams
Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke has been involved with the Gunners since 2007 and took complete control three years ago.
The billionaire, 73, also owns the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the Colorado Rapids from the MLS. He also has the Colorado Mammoth team in the National Lacrosse League and, since 2017 has been involved in esports, owning teams in leagues for the video games Overwatch and Call of Duty.
Controversially, he got around NFL rules preventing the ownership of other sports teams by having the Avalanche and Nuggets in his wife’s name.
Ann Walton, who he married in 1974, is the daughter of Walmart co-founder James Bud Walton and heir to the vast fortune. Kroenke is thought to be worth $8.3 billion.
The couple have four children. Son Josh, 40, is president of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, while daughter Whitney, 43, is a movie producer and philanthropist. They also have two other children, named Brett and Katie.
News of the Super League enraged fans of Arsenal – but it is not the first time Kroenke has drawn the anger of the supporters of his teams.
In 2015, he moved the Rams rom St Louis, where it had been based since 1994, back to Los Angeles, where it previously resided. The relocation drew anger from fans and even led to a lawsuit against the team and Kroenke from the city of St Louis.
Arsenal majority owner Stan Kroenke has been involved with the Gunners since 2007 and took complete control three years ago
Ann Walton Kroenke (second left) is the heiress to the Walmart empire and the wife of Arsenal football club owner Stan Kroenke
Kroenke’s house in Columbia, Missouri. Away from sport, Kroenke is a major landowner, with nearly 1.4 million acres of ranches across the U.S. and Canada
His relationship with Arsenal fans has also been a stormy one, with supporters of the North London club accusing him of ignoring the club by not investing money into it. Frequent protests have been carried out against him and fans have accused him of lacking ambition for a team once considered the best in the country.
Despite his involvement in sports watched by millions Kroenke prefers to avoid the spotlight and has the nickname ‘Silent Stan.’
Away from sport, Kroenke is a major landowner, with nearly 1.4 million acres of ranches across the U.S. and Canada.
Kroenke also owns around 30 million square feet of real estate, with much of it in the form of shopping plazas near Walmart stores.
In 2016, he bought a ranch of 520,000 acres in Texas, worth $727 million, which helped make him one of the top ten landowners in the US.
In 2017, he was slammed for launching an outdoor sports TV channel in the UK, which scheduled regular bloodsports and hunting programs, including the killing of elephants, lions, and other endangered African species.
His son Josh is also President and Governor of the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey franchise, and Alternate Governor for the Colorado Rapids soccer franchise. The company also co-owns Elitch Gardens Theme Park.
In 2013, he was appointed by his father to the board of Arsenal as a non-executive director.
Joel Glazer and the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United and the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Florida-based Joel Glazer is part of the family who have controlled Manchester United since 2005. They also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
United have not won the Premier League since 2013 but during Glazer’s tenure have lifted 12 major prizes and, according to Deloitte, in 2021 are the world’s fourth richest club behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Barcelona with revenue of $580m.
The Glazers’ money comes from their sporting empires and real estate across the US. They bought the Buccaneers for $192m in 1995 and it is now worth $3.1billion. Likewise they took charge of United, according to Forbes, for $1.4bn with the club reported to be worth more than $3bn.
The family owns First Allied Corporation, an American real-estate holding company that owns and rents out shopping malls across the United States. The company owns over 6.7 million square feet of shopping center space across 20 states, including California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.
Joel Glazer (left), Avram Glazer (left) and Bryan Glazer (centre), shortly after they took over Manchester United. Malcolm Glazer died in 2014
Joe Glazer, Co-chairman of Manchester United, celebrates after Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NFL team his family owns, win the Super Bowl
Joe Glazer is pictured with wife Angela. The couple have a son called Dylan and a daughter called Zoey
After Malcolm Glazer died in May 2014, his vast $4 billion fortune was shared among his children, including Joel.
Joel’s wife is called Angela, and the couple are parents to a son, Dylan, as well as a daughter called Zoey.
The Glazer family takeover was controversial with supporters who hit out at the debt the club would be forced to take on as part of the deal.
The majority of the capital used by the Glazers to purchase Manchester United came in the form of loans, the majority of which were secured against the club’s assets, incurring interest payments of over £60 million per annum.
The remainder came in the form of payment in kind loans, which were later sold to hedge funds.
Furious fans launched FC United of Manchester in 2005, which entered the North West Counties Football League and played in the sixth tier National League North from 2015 to 2019.
Since 2005, the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust has been working on a way of returning ownership of the club to supporters.
The Glazers have seen frequent protests against their ownership of the club and in 2010, a group of wealthy Manchester United fans, dubbed the ‘Red Knights’, discussed a billion-pound takeover bid.
However, the bid fell through when the Red Knights refused to meet the Glazers’ valuation of the club.
At his death in May 2014 at 85, Malcolm Glazer lived in a Palm Beach oceanfront house on the stretch of South Ocean Boulevard known to locals as Billionaires’ Row.
With ties to Rochester, New York, the Glazers bought the house in 1989, and Linda Glazer still uses it as her primary residence, property records show.
Roman Abramovich, Chelsea owner
Roman Abramovich was seen as the original billionaire football owner when he arrived at Chelsea in 2003 and transformed the team into a Premier League giant.
Since he took ownership of the club and invested heavily in big-name managers and players, they have won 16 major trophies, including five Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Believed to be worth around $15billion, according to Forbes, Abramovich also owns stakes in steel company Evraz and Norilsk Nickel – a Russian mining company.
A political figure in his homeland, he was governor of the Chukotka region and donated more than $2million to build schools, hospitals and infrastructure.
Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova attend the Preview of the Spring Exhibition Season at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art on March 9, 2017 in Moscow. She was the Chelsea owner’s third wife
In October 1991, he married a former Russian Aeroflot stewardess, Irina Malandina. They have five children, Ilya, Arina, Sofia, Arkadiy and Anna
Roman Abramovic and his then-girlfriend Daria Dasha Zhukova in Portofino in 2013. The two would later marry before getting divorced
The 53-year-old is known to have close relationships with former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin and current president Vladimir Putin.
In fact, it is believed that Abramovich was the first person to recommend Putin for president.
According to Forbes, Abramovich’s net worth was $12.9 billion in 2019, which makes him the richest person in Israel, 10th-richest in Russia, and the 113th richest in the world.
His British property empire is worth more than £200million and includes a 15-bedroom mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens that is believed to be now worth £125 million.
The portfolio includes a flat in Cheyne Terrace, Chelsea, which was purchased for £8.75million in 2017 and includes a high-tech temperature-controlled wine cellar.
It is close to three other properties that overlook the Thames, bought for £25million, that he had once intended to knock together and turn into a £100million super-home.
However Abramovich, who made his money selling assets acquired from the state following the fall of the Soviet Union, scrapped the plan and sold up after he relented to local uproar.
Abramovich became an Israeli citizen in 2018 after his British visa expired and reportedly owns most of the properties through a holding company called Fordstam
And land registry records show that since the expiration of his visa he transferred 11 properties to the business.
The empire also includes a £22million three-storey penthouse, bought in 2018, at the Chelsea Waterfront which was completed after his visa expired and the purchase was made in his name.
Meanwhile the Kensington mansion, which cost a staggering £90million, is part of what is known as ‘billionaire’s row’.
The Russian billionaire, 54, reportedly boasts a British property empire that includes a 15-bedroom mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens (pictured) that is believed to be now worth £125 million
The empire also includes a £22million three-storey penthouse at the Chelsea Waterfront (pictured) which was completed after his visa expired and was made in his name
The desirable postcode is also home to steel magnate Lakshmi Mitta and billionaire business magnate Wang Jianlin.
Abramovich has become the world’s greatest spender on luxury yachts, and maintains a fleet of yachts dubbed ‘Abramovich’s Navy’.
His 162.5m yacht, named ‘Eclipse’, is one of the many stunning gems within his fortune. It can accomodate 36 guests in 18 cabins and boasts a cinema, conference facilities, children’s playroom, beauty salon, dance floor, two swimming pools, sauna and even a missile defence system.
Abramovich has begun building a ‘megamansion’ in New York, having purchased four Upper East Side townhouses in Manhattan for $74 million. The combined property will be 19,400 square feet, and it is estimated that renovation costs will be an additional $100 million.
Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, 44, has called for the freezing of the Chelsea football club owner’s assets over his poisoning and arrest.
Abramovich has been married and divorced three times. In December 1987, following a brief stint in the Soviet Army, he married Olga Yurevna Lysova. They divorced in 1990.
In October 1991, he married a former Russian Aeroflot stewardess, Irina Malandina. They have five children, Ilya, Arina, Sofia, Arkadiy and Anna. Abramovich married Dasha Zhukova, daughter of a prominent Russian oligarch, Alexander Zhukov in 2008, and they have two children, a son, Aaron Alexander, and a daughter, Leah Lou.
In August 2017, the couple announced that they would separate and their divorce was finalised in 2018
Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, owner of Manchester City
The money arrived at Manchester City in 2008 and with Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, pulling the purse strings, they never looked back.
Cash was quickly pumped into every area – academy, training ground, playing staff, coaching – and City quickly caught up with, and overtook their neighbors and rivals Manchester United.
They have won four Premier Leagues in that time, look set for a fifth this season and are in the semi-final of the Champions League.
Manchester city owner Sheikh Mansour is thought to be another key player in the European Super League proposal
Sheikh Mansour built a lavish palace and compound on the highest spot of the Seychelles, La Misere, main island, on the site of a former US tracking station
Sheikh Mansour is thought to own Ascot Place, a Grade II-listed 18th century pile at Winkfield, Berks, on the edge of Windsor Great Park
The High Court heard that the Sheikh’s assets have included about 140 properties in the most affluent areas of London, including Mayfair, Marylebone, Knightsbridge and Kensington (pictured is one of the properties he owns in Kensington)
The Sheikh’s royal yacht, though such is the scale of the Azzam that calling it a yacht barely does it justice. At 590ft it is the largest private ocean-going yacht in the world
The Abu Dhabi group is the majority owner of the City Football Group which boasts Man City as their flagship team. They also have stakes in teams in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Spain, Uruguay, China, Belgium and France.
Sheikh Mansour is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, minister of presidential affairs and member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi. He is the half brother of the current President of UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Mansour also owns stakes in a number of business ventures, including Virgin Galactic and Sky News Arabia. Mansour is the owner of the yacht Topaz, which is worth around $560 million.
He gave control of Manchester City over to Khaldoon Al Mubarak, one of the royal family’s most trusted advisers.
Khaldoon’s father was the former UAE diplomat and ambassador to France, Khalifa Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Mubarak, who was assassinated in Paris in 1984.
Manchester City has faced widespread condemnation for its Abu Dhabi backing. Though the club has denied being funded by the UAE government directly, Sheikh Mansour retains control of the club.
A 2017-18 report Amnesty condemned the UAE for unfair trials, lack of freedom of expression, a failure to investigate allegations of torture, discrimination against women and the abuse of migrant workers.
JOE LEWIS, OWNER OF TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis, 84, is worth around $5.6 billion, according to last year’s Times Rich List.
Born in London he entered the family catering business at 15 but in the 1980s moved into currency trading. He is the major investor in Tavistock Group which owns more than 200 companies in 15 countries.
The group formerly owned stakes in Scottish football team Rangers and Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic.
Lewis lives in the Bahamas as a tax exile. Lewis is also the largest shareholder in the British pub group Mitchells & Butlers.
He has a variety of other investments, including luxury club resorts, restaurants, hotels and an Australian agriculture firm.
Lewis also owns the Lake Nona development near Orlando, one of the fastest growing communities in the USA.
The Tottenham owner’s art collection is estimated to be worth $1 billion and includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Lucian Freud, and sculptor Henry Moore.
Lewis bought Francis Bacon’s Triptych 1974–1977 in 2008 for $36.7 million, then a record for postwar artwork bought in Europe.
In November 2018 Lewis sold his ‘Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)’ by David Hockney in Christie’s salesroom for $90.3 million.
Tottenham owner Joe Lewis (left) watched his team play. He is worth around £4billion, according to last year’s Times Rich List
Aviva, a luxury yacht belonging to billionaire Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis, is pictured moored by Butler’s Wharf in London
JP Morgan, US firm bankrolling the super league
JP Morgan was among the group of big American investment banks blamed for triggering the financial crisis just over a decade ago – and was eventually ordered to pay a then-record $13 billion fine – about £10 billion – in 2013 for misleading investors in the years leading up to the meltdown.
Coincidentally, 2013 was also the year the bank finally parted company with one of its most notorious clients, pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Bank insiders have claimed that concerns were raised about Epstein – a friend of Prince Andrew – after the financier was charged with sex crimes and pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. Yet he remained a JP Morgan client for another five years.
One theory of why the disgraced American – who died in jail last year – was kept on in the face of increasingly lurid allegations was his value to JP Morgan.
Epstein is said to have arranged business introductions for one of his contacts at the bank, Jes Staley, the head of private banking who would later become chief executive of Barclays bank in Britain.
US Investment bank JP Morgan has loaned the clubs involved in the super league £4.3 billion to get it underway as soon as possible
The Mail on Sunday revealed in 2015 that Epstein lobbied for Staley to secure the top job at Barclays after 34 years at JP Morgan.
Staley has said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s illegal activities and Barclays has denied its directors were approached by Epstein.
Among JP Morgan’s other notable former clients is Bernie Madoff – the fraudster behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
According to court documents made public in 2011, senior JP Morgan executives had started to doubt the legitimacy of Madoff’s investment activities but continued to do business with him.
JP Morgan eventually paid a $2.5 billion fine for failing for two decades to report Madoff’s suspicious dealings. He was jailed for stealing from wealthy investors – including a number of celebrities – over more than 20 years. Losses from the scheme are said to have hit $17 billion.
In 2013 the bank finally parted company with one of its most notorious clients, paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein (pictured)
JP Morgan admitted it could have done a better job of handling concerns about Madoff’s activities but said no employee knowingly assisted with the fraud.
At the helm of the bank through the good times and the bad has been highly regarded chief executive Jamie Dimon.
Since taking the top job in 2005 he has become known as The King of Wall Street, raking in $298.8 million in pay and perks.
The 63-year-old became the best-paid banking chief for a fifth year in a row by scooping more than £24 million.
He is credited with steering JP Morgan through the financial crisis to become the most profitable bank in the US today.
Nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’ at private school in New York – ostensibly for his prowess on the sports field – he has an MBA from Harvard, where he met his wife, Judy.
They married in 1983 and have three grown-up daughters – Julia, Laura and Kara.
It’s fair to say Dimon hasn’t struggled to find ways to spend the wealth he has accrued since his university days. As well as a home on Park Avenue, one of New York’s most prestigious addresses, he and Judy escape in the summer months to their 34-acre country home about an hour’s drive north from central Manhattan.
The 9,600 sq ft 1930s mansion nestles in woodland near the town of Bedford, where other wealthy homeowners include former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor Michael Douglas. Dimon bought the summer retreat in 2007 for a reported $17 million.
His style of management is said to be fierce. It has been claimed he likes to punch the air when he raises his voice to berate staff and carries a crumpled piece of paper containing the names of ‘the people who owe me stuff’.
His tight grip on JP Morgan has not stopped the bank coughing up more than $31 billion in regulatory fines since the 2008 crisis for offences ranging from manipulating energy markets to accusations of racial discrimination.
Among JP Morgan’s other notable former clients is Bernie Madoff – the fraudster behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in history
In January 2017, JP Morgan agreed a $55 million settlement over allegations that it charged black and Hispanic mortgage borrowers higher rates than its white customers.
It denied the accusations, made by the US Justice Department, but agreed to settle.
JP Morgan has also issued a grovelling apology and paid millions of dollars in reparations for historic links to the slave trade.
In 2005, it admitted that two Louisiana banks that were later absorbed into the company once held 13,000 slaves as collateral and owned 1,250 slaves.
JP Morgan’s London office reported a $2billion trading loss in 2012 that was traced to big bets taken by a group of traders led by Bruno Iksil, known as the London Whale.
Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid
Unlike many of their European rivals, reigning LaLiga champions Real Madrid are still fan-owned with around 90,000 fan investors, known as Socios, owning stakes.
Current president Florentino Perez made his fortune in civil engineering and construction and will be the first chairman of the European Super League.
Current Real Madrid president Florentino Perez made his fortune in civil engineering and construction and will be the first chairman of the European Super League
A former politician, Perez’s background has been the vice-president of Grupo ACS since the company was formed in 1997, and is also the majority owner with 12.8 per cent of the shares in his name.
Perez actually failed in his first attempt to take control of operations in Madrid, failing with a presidential bid in 1995 as he lost to Ramon Mendoza, who would soon depart.
Come 2000, Perez sought to take advantage of Real’s poor financial standing and promised a series of world class signings – including Barcelona’s Luis Figo – during his campaign.
He scooped 94.2 per cent of the vote and then delivered on his promise by acquiring Figo from their greatest rival for a then world record fee.
Real are worth $3.6 billion according to Forbes, with Perez’s worth standing at $2 billion (£1.53m)
Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus
Juventus have been majority-owned, almost continuously, by the Agnelli family since 1923.
The family own around two thirds of the Turin team, with US fund manager Lindsell Train owning around 11 per cent and the rest owned by other investors in the stock market-listed business.
In February, Juventus said it had suffered a loss of 113.7million euros ($137 million) and expected to lose more money in the second half of the season amid coronavirus restrictions.
The club’s share price jumped by more than 14 per cent on Monday morning as investors welcomed news of the Super League.
The Agnelli family are descendants of Italian royalty and own the Fiat conglomerate with several car brands including Ferrari under their control.
Juventus have been majority-owned, almost continuously, by the Agnelli family since 1923. The family own around two thirds of the Turin team, with US fund manager Lindsell Train owning around 11 per cent
The family has sometimes been described in the English-speaking world as ‘the Kennedys of Italy’ for their role in the country’s contemporary history and their activity of patronage in modern art and in sports.
As of 2020, the extended Agnelli family comprised about two hundred members.
Most members of the family are stakeholders in privately owned Giovanni Agnelli B.V., which in turn has a controlling stake in the publicly listed holding company Exor.
In 2019. Exor recorded revenues of $144 billion, making it the 28th largest group in the world by revenue.
It has a history of investments running over a century, which notably include global reinsurer PartnerRe and the international newspaper The Economist, as well as their football and motor assets.
Elliot Management, hedge fund owners of AC Milan
Elliott Management, a $42billion hedge fund, has complete control of AC Milan after taking over the club in 2018 and has invested more than $600million.
Elliott has said it will invest another $1.2billion to finance a new stadium to replace the San Siro in a build which has placed further pressure on club finances.
The firm has invested in eBay, AT&T, SoftBank, SAP and Twitter since 2019.
Elliott, founded by billionaire Paul Singer, was famous for buying and selling small companies and its track record gave Singer a reputation among CEOs and board members as the world’s most feared investor.
Former AthenaHealth CEO Jonathan Bush, whose company was targeted by Elliott in 2017, described doing research on Elliott as ‘googling this thing on your arm and it says, ‘You’re going to die.’
The New Yorker called Singer a ‘doomsday investor,’ highlighting a series of unflattering tactics taken by his company.
In 1996, Singer began using the strategy of purchasing sovereign debt from nations in or near default, such as Argentina and Peru through his NML Capital Limited.
He did the same to the Republic of the Congo through Kensington International Inc.
Singer’s practice of purchasing debt from companies and sovereign states and pursuing full payment through the courts has led to criticism.
However, he described his tactic as ‘a fight against charlatans who refuse to play by the market’s rules’, and supporters of the practice have said it ‘help keep kleptocratic governments in check.’
In 2020 Singer ranked 222 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, 538 among the world’s billionaires, and the 19th highest earning hedge fund manager.
Suning, the Chinese firm that owns Inter Milan
City rivals Inter are in a far more uncertain position amid reports that Chinese owner Suning is in talks with private equity investors over a sale of the club.
In February, Suning confirmed that reigning Chinese Super League champions Jiangsu FC, which it also owns, would fold amid financial trouble.
Last month, it was reported that US fund Fortress was in talks over a takeover for Inter but no deal has yet been confirmed.
Confirmation that Inter would be included in any Super League could bump up the valuation of the Serie A club.
Suning is one of the largest non-government retailers in China.
The company has more than 1600 stores covering over 700 cities of China and Japan and its e-commerce platform, Suning.com ranks among top three Chinese B2C companies.
The company works in categories that include physical merchandise, such as home appliances, 3C products, books, general merchandise, household commodities, cosmetics and baby care products, content products and service merchandise.
It was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2004.
Barcelona, fan owned
Barcelona are another of LaLiga’s four member-owned clubs, having been set up under the model in 1899. Over 144,000 fans pay membership every year and have shareholder votes on major decisions.
Last month, Joan Laporta was elected for a second spell as club president.
Miguel Angel Gil Marin, majority owner of Athletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid are majority-owned by Spanish millionaire Miguel Angel Gil Marin, who first became chief executive at the club in 1993 after investment from his father.
Mr Gil Marin, who made his from horse and bull breeding, currently owns a stake of around 52 per cent.
Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer owns around a third of the club after buying out Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group in 2018.
Edward Woodward Chief Executive of Manchester United and Avram Glazer an American businessman, a member of the Glazer family, who own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final second leg match between FC Barcelona and Manchester United at Camp Nou on April 16, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain