West Ham owners Daniel Kretinsky and David Sullivan have rocketed up the Rich List, rising a combined 21 places on last year.
It is officially fair to say West Ham majority owner David Sullivan and co-owner Daniel Kretinsky are not short of a few quid.
West Ham face a huge rebuild this summer under incoming new boss Julen Lopetegui.
Money will certainly need to be spent on a small and ageing squad with Lopetegui set to inherit just 16 senior players.
The Hammers are poised to announce record £368m turnover while having the fourth best wages-to-turnover figures.
So West Ham should be well placed to spend within the new PSR rules set to be implemented this summer.
But it’s not just the club’s finances that are in rude health.
Kretinsky and Sullivan rocket up Rich List
West Ham’s main owners Sullivan and Kretinsky are officially two of the 50 richest people in the country.
In fact West Ham owners Kretinsky and Sullivan have rocketed up the Rich List.
The Sunday Times Rich List 2024 has been announced today.
Kretinsky, who owns 27 per cent of West Ham, has risen a massive 14 places on the list from 47th to 33rd with a net worth of £6bn.
That’s up £2bn on last year.
The main source income of West Ham’s ‘Czech Sphinx’ is listed as energy, telecoms, media and football: Royal Mail and J Sainsbury.
West Ham duo jump 21 places with £8bn combined worth
Sullivan has jumped seven places from 57th in last year’s list to 50th in the 2024 rankings.
His net worth is said to be £1.168bn – up £50m on last year. Sullivan’s main sources of wealth are listed property, football and media: Conegate.
So the combined worth of West Ham’s two key stakeholders is nearly £8bn.
Let’s hope some of that can be put towards the summer rebuild.
Kretinsky and Sullivan’s wealth pales in comparison with the very richest on the list, though.
Gopi Hinduja and family top the list again with a net worth of a staggering £37.2bn.
West Ham actually have four owners with Vanessa Gold and Albert ‘Tripp’ Smith holding varying stakes in the club.
West Ham’s ownership structure explained
Gold became the latest owner of West Ham in August 2023 when she took on the shares of the east London team her father, David Gold, previously held. She took on the family’s stake in West Ham following the passing of the British businessman who died last year aged 86 and her sister Jacqueline shortly after.
Sullivan is now the longest-serving owner among West Ham’s current structure after buying into the club with Gold in 2010.
The pair purchased West Ham when previous owners, the Icelandic group CB Holdings, endured financial turmoil and offloaded its shares.
Earlier this season Vanessa Gold announced her intention to sell some or all of her family’s share in West Ham.
Speculation has abound that US, Qatari or Saudi investors may be interested.
When Hammers News reached out to a source close to Sullivan back in October about whether he or Kretinsky would be interested in increasing their stake by buying the Gold family share, we were told the duo were ‘undecided’.