Liverpool owners close to £1.35bn sale of 30% stake to consortium including Jeff Bezos

A consortium including the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, is close to completing a deal for a 30% stake in Liverpool after months of talks with Fenway Sports Group. The investors are led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of the Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and who previously was a shareholder and director at Queens Park Rangers.

The Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is another member of the group who will pay in the region of £1.35bn. The deal is effectively agreed, but may take up to a month to complete.

Bezos has a personal fortune of around $257bn (£190bn), according to Forbes, making him the fourth-richest person in the world, while Saverin is reportedly worth $32bn. This will be Bezos’s first investment in football, but he has previously looked into bidding for NFL franchises. The 62-year-old will receive equity as part of the deal, which Deloitte has advised on.

Bezos is the executive chair of Amazon having relinquished day-to-day control when he stepped down as chief executive five years ago. Under his leadership, the online retailer has diversified into being an entertainment provider and has bought numerous sports rights for its streaming service.

Amazon had live UK rights for 20 Premier League games each season for six seasons until the end of last year and broadcasts the Champions League in several European countries, as well as some NFL games in the US.

FSG bought Liverpool in 2010 and have overseen two Premier League titles. FSG sold 3% of the club to the US private equity firm Dynasty Equity in 2023.

It has been a summer of change at Anfield, with Andoni Iraola replacing Arne Slot as head coach, Mohamed Salah left on a free transfer and has joined Trabzonspor and Michael Edwards departed his role as chief executive officer at FSG.

FSG has been approached for comment.