Jim Ratcliffe doesn't contain himself. Evidently not satisfied with Mercedes' results in F1 (he holds 33% of the team's shares), the owner of Ineos, who is already involved with one of his boats in the America's Cup of sailing and cycling, has decided to expand his interest also in world of English football. The British entrepreneur has acquired a stake of “up to 25%” of the share capital of Manchester United.
Joining the Red Devils cost 1.25 billion pounds, around 1.44 billion euros, the highest amount ever spent on a minority stake in a football club. The 71-year-old billionaire who is the owner and co-founder of the petrochemical giant Ineos, closed the purchase of a stake in Manchester United on Christmas Eve, 13 months after the American Glazer family announced that it was putting the club up for sale.
Ratcliffe will have an active responsibility at the club, also looking after the youth and women's teams. Not satisfied with the current results – the Reds are out of the Champions League and eighth in the Premier League – he decided to immediately invest 270 million euros in the modernization of the stadium, Old Trafford.
“As a United fan since I was a child, I am very happy to have reached this agreement which allows us to have a mandate over the management of the team – commented Ratcliffe – we will fight to return to the highest level of English, European and world football as it competes in club”.
Ratcliffe already has a presence in football as the owner of Nice in the French Ligue 1, Lausanne in the Swiss Super League, and holds a stake in Racing Club Abidjan of the Ivory Coast's Ligue One. It seems excluded that Lewis Hamilton is also part of the Ineos consortium, having shown an interest in the club, while the participation of Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal in F1, is not definitively ruled out.
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