Co-owners of Chelsea, Todd Boehly and Mark Walters, want to sell their shares at the Premier League club.
This also comes at a time that Walters is being investigated by the FBI.
In 2022, the BlueCo consortium purchased Chelsea.
The purchase came after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when former owner Roman Abramovich had his assets frozen by the British government for close links and collusion with the Russian state, while the Premier League’s league organization disqualified Abramovich as a club owner.
In total, BlueCo’s Chelsea purchase cost about 3 billion euros.
BlueCo is fronted by American Todd Boehly and under Boehly’s leadership, the owners have spent heavily on both players and a sister club, Strasbourg.
Another co-owner is Mark Walter. In addition to Chelsea, he has invested heavily in both the Los Angeles Lakers (basketball) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (baseball).
But last week Walter sold his ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers and now he, along with Boehly, also wants to sell his shares in BlueCo.
This is reported by the Financial Times newspaper.
The newspaper reports that Boehly and Walters had trouble agreeing on a strategy with BlueCo’s majority owner, Clearlake Capital, and discussions about selling the shares have been going on for a long time before they have now had a breakthrough.
Clearlake Capital is about to buy the duo’s shares.
One possible explanation for Walter wanting to sell his shares in the sports world is that he is under investigation by the American FBI.
The FBI is investigating an insurance company that Walter owned, which is said to have lent money to other companies that he also owned without reporting it.
The suspicions led to the agency raiding Walter last year, in which the FBI seized his cell phone, computer and private plane, according to Bloomberg Law.
It is important to point out that Walter is under investigation but has not – at least so far – been charged with any crimes. The case is, however, still under investigation.
Boehly and Walter each own approximately 12.5 percent of BlueCo, while Clearlake Capital is the majority owner with 61 percent. Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss also owns shares in BlueCo.
In addition to his shareholding, Boehly is chairman of Chelsea.
Under BlueCo’s leadership, Chelsea have won the Europa Conference League in the 2024-25 season and the Club World Cup in the summer of 2025.
