Sacramento Kings Owner Vivek Ranadivé to Bid for English Soccer Team Chelsea F.C.
- If the deal goes through, he would be the first person of Indian descent to own a top-flight English club.
Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé is reportedly readying a bid for Chelsea F.C., Sportico reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The English soccer team is up for sale by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. “Chelsea is one of the most valuable soccer clubs in the world,” Sportico notes, adding that the team, “valued at $3.35 billion is fourth-highest in England.”
If the deal goes through, Ranadivé would be the first person of Indian descent to own a top-flight English club. He joins fellow Americans Todd Boehly and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson who are also bidding for the club.
Among one of the richest NBA team owners, Ranadivé is the founder and former chief executive officer of TIBCO Software, a multi-billion dollar real-time computing company, and of Teknekron Software Systems. Before he bought the Kings, he was the co-owner and vice-chairman of the Golden State Warriors. Ranadivé bought the Kings at a valuation of $534 million in 2013, a then-record for a basketball team. The Kings are now worth $2.06 billion, according to the latest valuation by Sportico.
In October 2021, Ranadivé acquired a minority share in the National Basketball Association (NBA) team, along with private equity firm Arctos Sports Partners, officially buying shares of former owners Mark Friedman, Brad Jenkins, Mark Mastrov, Andy Miller and Kevin Nagle, the Sacramento Kings said in a statement.