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By: Mauricio Alencar
Who are the current owners of Manchester United?
The Glazer family majority owns Manchester United, while Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a significant minority shareholder.
The late Malcolm Glazer, the father of Avram and Joel, first bought a small shareholding in United in 2003. The Glazer family took control of the club through a leveraged buyout two years later in a deal worth £790m.
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who runs petrochemicals giant Ineos, agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in the club last month for around £1.25bn following a long saga involving a rival bid from Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim.
Ratcliffe, who says he is a lifelong United fan, now controls the club’s football operations. He has also invested an additional £245m, which will go towards improving the club’s infrastructure.
Manchester United were listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012. The club received an injection of around $233m at a club valuation of $2.3bn.
What is the breakdown of ownership?
| Glazer siblings | 44% |
| Jim Ratcliffe | 25% |
| Investors | 31% |
Who are the directors and chairman of Manchester United?
Brothers Avram and Joel Glazer are executive co-chairmen and directors.
Ratcliffe and one other Ineos representative are set to join the board upon the deal’s approval by the Premier League.
Interim chief executive Patrick Stewart, the club’s legal officer, and chief financial officer Cliff Baty are also on the board, as are Avram and Joel’s siblings Kevin, Bryan, Edward and Darcie Glazer Kassewitz.
Robert Leitão, a managing partner at bank Rothschild, former cricket executive Manu Sawhney and luxury fashion industry businessman John Hooks are all independent directors.
What is the Glazers’ net worth?
The Glazer family’s net worth is $4.7bn, according to Forbes.
The siblings inherited real estate assets and the ownership of Manchester United as well as the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jim Ratcliffe is worth around $20bn. His chemicals company Ineos brings in over $60bn each year.
Ratcliffe is also the owner of French side OGC Nice. He has owned the club since 2019.
The Monaco-based billionaire tried to buy Chelsea in 2022 after Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club,
When did the Glazers buy Manchester United and who was the previous owner?
The Glazers took control of Manchester United through a leveraged buyout in 2005.
They replaced Irish investors JP McManus and John Magnier as majority owners in a deal which valued the club at £790m.
Sports mogul Malcolm Glazer had begun to build a stake in 2003 when previous owners JP McManus and John Magnier were in charge.
The club was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012 at a value of around $2.3bn.
Most of the Glazer family members including Avram, Kevin and Edward sold some of their shares in the following years.
The Glazers said they were open to a sale in November 2022. It set off a race between Jim Ratcliffe and Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim, with both wanting to take full control of the club.
After over a year of negotiations, the Glazers settled for a minority sale.
As Sheikh Jassim withdrew his bid in October, the Glazers decided to sell 25 per cent of the club to Jim Ratcliffe for £1.25bn.
What is the Glazers’ record as Manchester United owner?
Fans have heavily criticised the Glazers for their ownership of Manchester United.
Their leveraged buyout in 2005 burdened the club with significant debt, which now stands at around £725m. Many supporter groups protested against the deal in 2005, claiming the Glazers would extract money away from the club for personal business interests.
The height of club protests came in 2021 when several fans broke barriers and stormed the pitch at Old Trafford.
In the same year, Manchester United’s owners signed up to the failed European Super League project. Joel Glazer was the competition’s vice-chairman.
Since former manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, Manchester United have failed to win any Premier League or Champions League titles. They have won one Europa League and one FA Cup.
