Jeff Bezos Close to Investing in Liverpool Football Club
Jeff Bezos is on the brink of Anfield.
After months of negotiations, a consortium featuring the Amazon founder is close to sealing a deal for a 30% stake in Liverpool, in what would be one of the most eye-catching investments English football has seen in years.
The group of investors is led by Amit Bhatia, son-in-law of Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and a familiar name in English football after his previous shareholding at Queens Park Rangers. Also in the room is Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Between them, the consortium is set to pay around £1.35bn for just under a third of the club, with the agreement effectively in place and expected to take up to a month to formally complete.
Bezos, whose personal fortune Forbes estimates at about $257bn (£190bn), is the headline act. The 62-year-old, the fourth-richest person in the world, has circled elite sport before, exploring bids for NFL franchises, but this would be his first direct investment in football. He is set to receive equity in Liverpool as part of the deal, which Deloitte is understood to have advised on.
This is not a random punt. Under Bezos’s leadership, Amazon pushed aggressively into live sport as a pillar of its entertainment strategy. The company held live UK rights for 20 Premier League matches per season for six seasons up to the end of last year, and currently broadcasts the Champions League in several European territories, along with NFL coverage in the United States. Bezos may have stepped down as Amazon chief executive five years ago, but as executive chair he remains closely associated with that expansionist vision.
For Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, this is the latest chapter in a 14-year tenure that has reshaped the club on and off the pitch. FSG bought Liverpool in 2010 and have presided over an era that has brought two Premier League titles and a return to the European elite. They have already dipped a toe into external investment, selling a 3% stake to US private equity firm Dynasty Equity in 2023. A 30% sale marks a very different scale of partnership.
It also arrives at a moment of upheaval on Merseyside. Anfield has felt in flux this summer. Andoni Iraola has come in as head coach, replacing Arne Slot. Mohamed Salah, the defining forward of the Klopp era and one of the club’s greatest modern players, has departed on a free transfer and joined Trabzonspor. Michael Edwards has exited his role as chief executive officer at FSG, removing another long-standing pillar of the club’s structure.
Against that backdrop, the prospect of Bezos money — and the broader financial firepower of a Bhatia- and Saverin-led consortium — drops into a club already wrestling with questions about its next phase. Is this fresh capital designed to supercharge recruitment and infrastructure, or to shore up a model that has always prided itself on sustainability and data-driven discipline?
For now, the details remain under wraps. The Guardian understands the deal is essentially agreed in principle, with lawyers and advisers working through the final stages. FSG has been approached for comment.
What is clear is this: if and when the paperwork lands, Liverpool will not just be a Premier League institution with global reach. It will be a club part-owned by one of the most powerful figures in modern technology and entertainment, at a time when the lines between streaming, sport and ownership grow thinner by the season.
Anfield has seen American investors before. It has never seen anything quite like this.
