How rich the Leeds United owners are compared to the Championship’s wealthiest clubs
With the complete purchase of 49ers Enterprises during the summer, who plan to promote Leeds United from the Championship at the first opportunity, the team is now owned by a new entity
Soccer Reporters compares the owners of Leeds United, 49ers Enterprises, with the Championship in terms of net worth.
Via 49ers Enterprises, American billionaire businesswoman Marie Denise DeBartolo York is the co-chair and owner of both Leeds and the San Francisco 49ers American football team. She is the daughter of the late Marie Patricia Montani DeBartolo and the late construction entrepreneur Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.
Giving Daniel Farke and his coaching staff the groundwork and players for a promotion push has been the task of 49ers Enterprises, her company, and the new Leeds hierarchy. They have succeeded thus far, and Leeds is currently competing with Southampton, Ipswich Town, and Leicester City for automatic promotion.
Before the summer takeover, Andrea Radrizzani served as both Leeds’ chairman and the club’s majority owner. He and Massimo Cellino became co-owners of Leeds United after he bought half of the team’s shares in January 2017. Radrizzani announced the 100% takeover of Leeds from Cellino on May 23, 2017, marking the day he assumed complete control of the team.
| Leeds United’s league positions under Andrea Radrizzani | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| League | Season | Manager | Finishing position |
| Championship | 2016/17 | Garry Monk | 7th |
| Championship | 2017/18 | Thomas Christiansen/ Paul Heckingbottom | 13th |
| Championship | 2018/19 | Marcelo Bielsa | 3rd |
| Championship | 2019/20 | Marcelo Bielsa | 1st |
| Premier League | 2020/21 | Marcelo Bielsa | 9th |
| Premier League | 2021/22 | Marcelo Bielsa/ Jesse Marsch | 17th |
| Premier League | 2022/23 | Jesse Marsch/ Javi Gracia/ Sam Allardyce | 19th |
49ers Enterprises Leeds United investment
49ers Enterprises, who had previously controlled 44% of the team, was eager to purchase the team from Radrizzani in order to seize the majority of the shares. After they were eventually ratified by the EFL, Paraag Marathe, who had previously served as the club’s vice chairman and board member, succeeded the Italian as Leeds’ chairman.
Nonetheless, Rudy Cline-Thomas has been appointed as the club’s new vice chairman, and Angus Kinnear is still serving as CEO. They expanded their recruitment team to include people like Nick Hammond and Gretar Steinsson.
Along with well-known figures from American sports like Michael Phelps and Larry Nance, investors in Leeds have also included Jordan Spieth and other well-known figures. The club was particularly interested in Spieth when 49ers Enterprises took ownership.
The Net Worth of the York Family (49ers Enterprises)
At the time that sum was determined, Forbes said that the investing arm of the organisation is worth an incredible $5.97 billion (£4.79 billion), making it the 11th richest sporting business globally.
In 2021–2022, Leeds brought in €223.4 million, more than any other team in the world (according to Deloitte). Sixty-one percent of that was generated on matchday, with the remaining 27 percent coming from advertising partnerships and the remaining 61 percent from broadcast.
Naturally, that has suffered since the club’s relegation, but even after accounting for parachute payments, Leeds is in a respectable financial position. This also explains the club’s large summer transfer expenditures in acquiring players such as Joel Piroe, Glen Kamara, Ilia Gruev, and Ethan Ampadu, all of whom cost at least £5 million.
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Leeds’ financial position compared to Championship rivals
The numbers might be a little out of date because the owners of QPR and Stoke City have net worths that exceed Leeds’ estimation.
According to Forbes’ 2023 projection, Lakshmi Mittal of QPR is worth an incredible $17.7 billion, while the combined net worth of John and Denise Coates and their family at Stoke is expected to be over $9.4 billion.
Leicester, Leeds’s competitors for promotion, are owned by the Srivaddhanaprabha Family, who are believed to be worth $3.5 billion. Southampton, the other newly demoted premier league team, is valued at about $1.3 billion.
The Louis-Dreyfus Group, which is made up of Stewart Donald (19%), Juan Sartori (30%), and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (51%), is the owner of Sunderland, one of the biggest teams in the championship. Taken together, its net worth is estimated to be $2.1 billion.
Some of the lower-tier teams are Rotherham United and Millwall, who were valued in 2021 at somewhere in the range of £175 and 180 million.
Many parties are having difficulty, nevertheless, due to the rules governing Profit and Sustainability and Financial Fair Play. Given their size and the potential cash streams available to them, Leeds ought to have an advantage over most other clubs, thanks in part to parachute payments and commercial money.
With so many of their players presently on loan, Leeds has a wealth of player assets as well. If they don’t get promoted to the top division this season at the first attempt, they should be able to go again financially.
