Jeff Bezos’ Eyebrow-Raising Next Move Revealed

Jeff Bezos has taken his first serious step into elite sports ownership.

The Amazon founder has reportedly toyed with bidding for major U.S. sports franchises in the past, but no concrete move ever materialized. Now, however, he has joined a syndicate of investors ready to buy a stake in Liverpool Football Club, a source familiar with the matter has told the Daily Beast.

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Previous reporting suggested he was approached to join the investor group, led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, but hadn’t committed. Bhatia is already a co-owner, alongside Mittal, of Queens Park Rangers F.C. in the English second division.

However, the Beast’s source says the Trump-friendly billionaire, who also owns the Washington Post, is all-in on the idea.

Bezos, the fourth-richest man in the world, worth almost $257 billion, has never owned a sports team, though Amazon has held the TV rights to top-level soccer games in the U.K.

In 2023, reports surfaced that Bezos was ready to buy the Washington Commanders in the NFL. He also reportedly explored a bid for the Seattle Seahawks, this year’s Super Bowl winners. However, he never bid for either franchise.

Liverpool F.C. is one of the most storied teams in England, with perhaps the most loyal and raucous support at its Anfield stadium. LFC has been crowned champions of England on a record 20 occasions, most recently in the 2024-25 season. The club has enjoyed elite continental success, too, winning Europe’s top club trophy six times.

“The Reds” have enjoyed, or endured, American leadership in the past.

U.S. businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks became the owners of the club in 2007, halfway through the 2006–07 Premier League season.

Hicks owned the Dallas Stars ice hockey club and the Texas Rangers baseball team at the time. Gillett was the owner of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team.

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The pair presided over a fallow period on the field for LFC. Things weren’t good at board level, either. Soccer fans are quick to vent their frustrations at club ownership if results are not good on the field.

At the start of the 2010–11 season, Liverpool was on the brink of bankruptcy, and the club’s creditors asked the High Court to approve a sale despite the objections of owners, Hicks and Gillett. John W. Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group (FSG), submitted the winning bid and completed a takeover of the club in October 2010.

In September 2023, FSG sold a minority stake to the U.S. private equity firm Dynasty Equity.

News of Bezos’ interest was first reported by the Financial Times on Tuesday. It reported the potential deal was for a “significant minority stake.” If it goes through, it would value the club at over $6 billion.

This would surpass the 2022 acquisition of London club Chelsea by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. That deal was worth $5.4 billion.

It looks like Bhatia’s consortium means business. He stepped back from control of his stake in Championship side Queens Park Rangers earlier this week, clearing a potential hurdle under Premier League ownership rules ahead of his consortium’s proposed investment in Liverpool.

FSG confirmed the potential deal, declaring in a statement that the mega-rich group “expressed interest in making a strategic minority investment.” However, people familiar with the talks told the FT that a deal is not a certainty.

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