90min
·7. Januar 2025
90min
·7. Januar 2025
Elon Musk's father Errol has confirmed his son's interest in buying Liverpool Football Club, pointing to the family's long-running link to the English city.
Musk is ranked as the richest individual in the world by Forbes, boasting a net worth in excess of £330bn - almost double that of his closest rival, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Alongside his ownership of SpaceX, Tesla and social media website X, Musk has a close relationship with US president Donald Trump. Now, the South Africa-born billionaire has been linked with a move into the Premier League.
Rumours of Musk's interest in purchasing Liverpool, current leaders of England's top flight and the only Champions League team with a perfect record this season, were put to his father, Errol in an interview this week.
"Does your son want to buy Liverpool Football Club?" Errol was asked on Times Radio.
"I can't comment on that, they'll raise the price!" Musk Sr joked. "Oh yes, [he has expressed a desire], but that doesn't mean he's buying it."
"He would like to yes, obviously. Anybody would want to - so would I!" Errol Musk added.
Liverpool's ownership has come under criticism / Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/GettyImages
A move for Liverpool, rather than any other football club, is not quite as random as it may appear for a tech entrepreneur with citizenship in South Africa, Canada and the USA.
"His grandmother was born in Liverpool," Musk Sr revealed, "and we have relatives in Liverpool, and we were fortunate to know quite a few of the Beatles because they grew up with some of my family. So, we are attached to Liverpool you know."
Liverpool are already under American ownership. The investment body now known as Fenway Sports Group (FSG) paid just £300m for the Premier League giants back in 2010, after the Merseyside club had been on the brink of financial collapse under the disastrous regime of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
FSG have seen Liverpool rise from mid-table obscurity to regular Premier League and Champions League challengers with a cost-effective approach that employs statistical analysis. Liverpool opened themselves up to outside investment back in November 2022, later clarifying that they were interested in selling a minority stake rather than sanctioning a full sale.
Manchester United - the only English club with more top-flight titles than Liverpool - sold a 27.7% stake in the club to Sir Jim Ratcliffe in December 2024 worth around £1.2bn. At that rate, a full sale for Liverpool would be worth between £5-6bn - which represents less than 2% of Musk's net worth.
Live