British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe has confirmed he has made a bid to buy Manchester United.
Ratcliffe said in a statement he has made a bid for ‘majority ownership’ of United and is set to face competition from a rival bid by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani to take control of the club.
The Premier League giant was put up for sale by the Glazer family in November 2022, and a soft deadline for all potential buyers to submit opening bids passed on February 17.
But who exactly is United’s potential new owner and how much is he worth? Here is everything you need to know.
Who is Sir Jim Ratcliffe?
Ratcliffe is CEO of the Ineos Group Ltd, having founded the chemicals company in 1998 and of which he still owns two-thirds.
The 70-year-old Manchester United fan also owns the professional cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, French club Nice, and Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport.
His portfolio also includes Britain’s America’s Cup sailing team as well as a partnership with the Mercedes Formula One team.
Ratcliffe was knighted in 2018 after being named on the Queen’s birthday honours list for services to business and investment.
Ratcliffe, from Oldham but who now lives in Monaco, was interested in buying Chelsea in 2019 but was unwilling to meet then-owner Roman Abramovich’s £2.5 billion asking price.
Ratcliffe made another attempt to buy Chelsea when it came up for sale last year, but was beaten to it by a consortium involving Todd Boehly.
What is Jim Ratcliffe’s net worth?
Estimations for Ratcliffe’s wealth vary significantly. According to Bloomberg’s billionaire index, Ratcliffe has a net worth of around £8.7 billion, while Forbes puts his net worth at around £13.48 billion.
This makes Ratcliffe Britain’s richest man and the 55th wealthiest in the world.
United’s arch-rivals Manchester City are owned by Sheikh Mansour who has an estimated net worth of around £20 billion.
However, both Ratcliffe and Mansour have significantly less money than Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which controls Newcastle United and has a £400 billion purse.
Ratcliffe owns the Hampshire II superyacht, and in 2022 sold his 50% stake in the Pig Hotels group.
What is Ineos?
Ineos is the fourth biggest chemical engineering company in the world and produce a range of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals, and oil products.
These are used in a huge variety of everyday products such as plasters, soap, shower gel, detergents, eye drops, headphones, and smartphone screens.
The company comprises of 36 individual companies spread over 29 countries and has an estimated turnover of £59.3 billion.
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