After a joke made by the World’s richest man, Elon Musk to buy, Manchester United, the owners of the English Premier League club, the Glazer family said it’s open to selling a minority stake.
Recall that Punch Metro reported that Elon Musk had tweeted on Wednesday that he was only joking when he tweeted about buying the English Club.
The Electric car company boss, in a clarification tweet, said he was not ready to buy any sports team but, “if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid,” he wrote on the social media platform.
However, according to Bloomberg, the Glazer family are willing to sell a 49 per cent stake to interested investors, as calls for their exit grow among Manchester United fans due to their struggle in the EPL and inability to attract top players.
The 49% represents a minority stake, with the Glazer family maintaining their majority control in Manchester United, which they acquired in 2005.
Although Manchester United’s current market valuation on the New York Stock Exchange is estimated at around $2.23 billion, if the sale goes through, the English club might raise up to £2.4 billion.
Meanwhile, Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has expressed interest in buying Man United if the club is for sale.
A source told Sky Sports that Ratcliffe is serious about buying United and former players would be involved, along with Sir Dave Brailsford.
Sir Ratcliffe is the CEO of Ineos Group Ltd. He also owns cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, Ligue 1 side Nice, who he took over in 2019, and FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss Super League club.
The 69-year-old, who is a Man United supporter, tabled a last-minute £4.25 billion bid to buy Chelsea this summer but saw his offer rejected as American businessman Todd Boehly successfully took over the club.