Chelsea FC are one of the biggest football clubs in London and one of the most well-known in the world. Winners of countless major trophies, it has seen numerous domestic and international tournaments. Yet the past few years have not been easy for the club, both on and off the pitch. With new ownership at the helm, we look at who is currently running Chelsea FC.
Todd Boehly
When new ownership arrives at a club, it often brings on a period of frantic yet positive activity. Players and backroom staff get invigorated by a change of management, and the fans also get behind this, especially if the previous management is no longer loved. But since Todd Boehly acquired Chelsea FC in May 2022 the outcome has been mixed. The team has been languishing mid-table due to inconsistent results. The major betting sites UK have all but written them off, removing them from the top six places behind major rivals such as Arsenal and Tottenham.
Boehly is a founder of Eldridge Industries, a company based in Greenwich, Connecticut. He has an estimated net worth of £6.1 billion. His formative career years were spent at companies such as Guggenheim Investors.
It was during this time he managed to broker a deal to create Sportsnet LA, a network created with Time Warner Cable and the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. His first foray into sports business and management would stand him in good stead for Chelsea FC. He now owns a share in the club and is a part owner of the LA Sparks basketball team with an interest in various eSports companies.
Behdad Eghbali
Behdad Eghbali is a US and Iranian businessman with a net worth of around $3.8 billion. This fortune has mainly come from his company, Clearlake Capital, which he founded in 2006 with businessman Jose E Feliciano. Before this, he had worked as a private equity investor. He had also worked at Jefferies Broadview and Morgan Stanley & Co.
Clearlake Capital joined up with Todd Boehly to purchase Chelsea in 2022. It became one of many companies on their roster. These include Discovery Education, Ivanti Software and DigiCert, among many others.
Eghbali is currently heavily involved in recruitment at the club. He was a crucial part of transfers for this season, while Boehly has stepped back to deal with the marketing and business aspects. Look at any sports betting blog covering football, and you will find out how mixed these results have been. Eghbali’s new signings have not been favourably looked upon by fans.
One of the factors holding back Chelsea and its ownership may stem from the fact that shortly after purchasing Chelsea, they also bought RC Strasbourg. While being adept businessmen, football is not something either had previously worked with. Spreading themself too thin in a new field may have taken its toll on them, meaning neither of them are giving Chelsea FC the attention they deserve. However, all clubs have ups and downs, and it could just be a season of settling before the team makes its grand comeback in the 24-25 season.