Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta could soon be the owner of another major sports team.
According to a recent report, Fertitta is the latest billionaire to explore making a bid to become the new owner of Chelsea Football Club.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the team’s owner, recently announced his plans to sell the team amidst the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions on Russia and many of its wealthy citizens has made life difficult for people like Abramovich.
Now, it appears as though similarly wealthy tycoons are looking to capitalize on the situation.
“Sky News has learnt that Tilman Fertitta, whose wealth is estimated by Forbes magazine at $6.2bn (£4.8bn), is among the parties given access to a data room by the merchant bank overseeing the sale of last season’s Champions League winners,” Mark Kleinman reported.
“It was unclear on Monday evening whether Mr Fertitta was likely to table an offer for Chelsea by the end of the week, or whether he was in talks about others regarding a joint bid.”
This would certainly not be the first time someone from the NBA world goes over to England to become an owner of a Premier League squad. In fact, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James already holds a small ownership stake in Liverpool Football Club.
However, given his net worth, Fertitta is likely looking for much more than a small ownership stake.
With many billionaires apparently interested in bidding for Chelsea, it will be interesting to see if Fertitta proves to be the person capable of getting a deal done.
Fertitta’s Rockets currently have the worst record in the NBA at 17-51.
