LEWIS HAMILTON AND SERENA WILLIAMS JOIN CONSORTIUM TO PURCHASE CHELSEA
Seven-time Formula One world champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton, and 23 Grand Slam-winner Serena Williams have joined former Liverpool chairman, Sir Martin Broughton’s consortium that is bidding to complete a takeover at Chelsea.
The Formula One star confirmed on Friday that he is part of a bid to buy Chelsea FC, and described the opportunity to hold a minor stake in the current European champions as “one of the greatest opportunities.”
Chelsea was put up for sale seven weeks ago by Russian owner Roman Abramovich, in a move that Abramovich said was “in the best interest of the club”, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The battle to take control of the 5-time Premier League champions has been running for a while now and appears to be edging towards a conclusion.
Hamilton and Williams are part of one of three consortia hoping to win the bid for Chelsea. The two have developed impressive investment portfolios in their own right. Serena Williams has her own venture capital fund, Serena Ventures, which announced an investment this week in Opensponsorship, a British-based sports technology start-up, while Lewis Hamilton has an array of start-ups in his portfolio; the most notable of his investments being Zapp, a London-based grocery delivery app.
The two sports stars’ investment in the bid is expected to be more than $25million, with Lewis’ input estimated to be £10million ($12.8million). The move has come as a bit of a surprise, especially considering that Lewis Hamilton is an Arsenal fan. Arsenal are another London-based club and a direct rival of Chelsea – Wednesday’s match between the two clubs ended in a 4-2 defeat for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Lewis Hamilton grew up in Stevenage, 25 miles north of London, and has supported Arsenal all his life. His investment in Chelsea would mean that he’d become a direct rival of his boyhood club.
It is, however, understood that Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams have been in talks with Sir Martin’s consortium for several weeks. Broughton’s group now includes Conservative Member of Parliament and former Olympic chief, Lord Sebastian Coe; Wall Street investment banker Michael Klein; Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams; and subsidiary owners of the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, FC Augsburg, and Crystal Palace, Josh Harris and David Blitzer. Blitzer is also the co-owner of Real Salt Lake City.
Speaking on Friday about his involvement in the bid, Lewis Hamilton said: “Ultimately, I’m a sporting fan. It’s the biggest sport in the world and Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world and one of the most successful. When I heard about this opportunity I was like, ‘Wow’, this is one of the greatest opportunities to be a part of something.’”
Regarding his conflict of interest when it came to Arsenal and Chelsea, Hamilton said: “I love seeing people excel, I’ve been to quite a few Arsenal and Chelsea games because my uncle is a massive Blues fan, so there’s been that kind of rivalry in the family all my life. This is a business opportunity, an incredible opportunity to be a part of the biggest sport in the world and one of the biggest teams in the world.”
“I’ve been a football fan since I was a kid,” he went on. “I’ve played since I was a kid, from four to 17 in teams every year. I played every year through childhood. I’ve been to numerous games. When I was young, around the corner from where I lived, I used to play football with all the kids and a couple of my close friends at the time, and I really wanted to fit in. I was the only kid of color there.”
“All the kids supported someone different – one was Tottenham, one was Man United and I remember switching between these teams when I was younger and when I’d get home my sister punching me several times in the arm, and saying, ‘you have to support Arsenal.’ So I remember at five, six years old I then became a supporter of Arsenal but my uncle Terry is a big Blues fan, so I’ve been to so many games with him to watch Arsenal and Chelsea play.”
Hamilton said he and Williams were “constantly in touch” after Broughton made first contact about the opportunity – which he insists is “very much aligned” with his values.
“We did speak about it – Serena and I are very, very close,” he said. “She’s a phenomenal athlete and woman. She asked me what my thoughts were on it and I told her that I’m going to be a part of it and she decided to join.”
“Naturally I heard about it in the news, everyone was obviously aware of it. I got contacted and Sir Martin took time to speak to me on the phone and explain his and his team’s goals if they were able to win the bid that was incredibly exciting and it very much aligned with my values.”
“When I was younger, I was trying to actually play for a team, try out for Stevenage but I ended up following racing,” Hamilton said. “I could have only ever dreamed being a part of the team, an integral part of the team, so that’s for me the most exciting thing.”
Hamilton insisted that they were “trying to acquire a team and move it forwards” when asked about the previous owners’ stance on human rights. “It’s all about the community,” he explained. “That’s what really makes a football team, the people in and around it.”
“They’ve been quite leading in their work in D&I, becoming more diverse and progressive. It’s not that we’re associating ourselves with previous owners, our goal is to continue the work they’ve already done, having more of an impact and engaging more with the community.”
“They’ve already done lots in anti-racial campaigns, antisemitism. There’s a lot of core values they have that are aligned with mine and I hope over time I can be more and more involved.”
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel spoke about Williams and Hamilton’s involvement in the Chelsea bids and said he admires them both but insisted he had no insight on the pair’s role in Broughton’s bid.
“I am a big admirer of both of them, fantastic personalities on the court and race track and off,” he said. “They take responsibility as human beings and are outstanding sports figures in what they do, for which they have my biggest respect. But I have no insight into the proceedings and what role they play.”
Lewis Hamilton will compete for Mercedes this weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, while Serena Williams hinted a couple of weeks ago of her return to Wimbledon this year, come June.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Morio. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.