The late bid for the Premier League soccer club by Ratcliffe, the chief executive of Ineos, would be the highest price ever paid for a sports team.
Jim Ratcliffe, a billionaire industrialist and one of Britain’s richest men, has made a $5.3 billion offer to buy Premier League soccer team Chelsea, a fee that would be the highest ever paid for a sports franchise. “We are making this investment as fans of the beautiful game — not as a means to turn a profit,” Ratcliffe said in a statement issued by his petrochemicals business, Ineos, confirming his pursuit of Chelsea. “We do that with our core businesses. The club is rooted in its community and its fans. And it is our intention to invest in Chelsea F.C. for that reason.” Ratcliffe’s enormous offer for the West London club — which dwarfs at least three other multibillion-dollar offers already under consideration — caps a tumultuous and dizzying few weeks for Chelsea.
