Liverpool Football Club could soon welcome one of the world's wealthiest men as a part-owner, after it emerged that a consortium including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in advanced discussions to acquire a 30% stake in the six-time European champions. Yet rather than unanimous celebration, the news has been met with a mixture of curiosity and unease among supporters who remember the club's turbulent past under previous American ownership.
Bezos, whose personal fortune is estimated by Forbes at around $257bn (£190bn), is reportedly working alongside Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, said to be worth $32bn, on the potential deal. Also linked to the consortium is Amit Bhatia, who recently stepped down from his ownership role at Queens Park Rangers—a move seen as significant given Football Association rules barring individuals from holding substantial interests in more than one club.
Under the terms being discussed, current owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) would sell a 30% share while retaining overall control of the club. The proposed valuation of £4.5bn would net FSG approximately £1.35bn—a striking return on the roughly £518m the group has invested in Liverpool since purchasing it in 2010, including intra-group loans of about £218m.
Football finance analyst Kieran Maguire described the arrangement as highly favorable for FSG. "They generate more than £1bn from the deal and still keep control—this represents the best of both worlds," he said, comparing the strategy to that employed by City Football Group in bringing in minority investors after recouping their original purchase price.
FSG's tenure has coincided with a dramatic turnaround for Liverpool, both financially and on the pitch. The club ended a 30-year wait for a league title in 2019-20, added another Premier League crown in 2024-25, and lifted a sixth Champions League trophy in 2018-19. Off the field, investment has flowed into a new training complex and stadium redevelopment, helping push the club's value up thirteenfold since 2010.
Despite the scale of the potential investment, Maguire cautioned that fans should not expect a transfer spending spree as a result. Premier League Squad Cost Ratio regulations tie spending capacity to commercial revenue rather than ownership wealth, meaning the deal is unlikely to translate directly into a bigger transfer budget. He added that a full takeover by the consortium down the line