Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, has reportedly been involved in conversations about potentially joining an investor group seeking to acquire a stake in Premier League powerhouse Liverpool.
The consortium is being fronted by British-Indian entrepreneur Amit Bhatia, who is working with a group of financiers exploring what has been described as a “strategic minority investment” in Liverpool Football Club.
Daily Mail Sport reported on Tuesday that Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, is pursuing talks with Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group over a potential deal that could value the club at more than £4.5billion ($6bn).
According to Sky News reports, Bezos has since been approached about becoming part of the group and has held discussions over a possible partnership with Bhatia and his fellow investors. Both FSG and Bezos have been contacted for comment.
Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool in 2010 for £300million and have overseen one of the most successful eras in the club’s modern history, including two Premier League titles and a sixth Champions League triumph.
The Merseyside club has largely operated on a self-sustaining model under FSG, limiting the need for heavy owner funding. Figures published by The Athletic in 2024 suggested the group had injected only around £136m into the club.
Whether Bezos, 62, will ultimately help finance a Liverpool investment remains unclear. Forbes currently ranks him as the world’s fourth-richest person, with an estimated net worth of $256.9bn (£194.9bn).
Jeff Bezos has reportedly held talks about joining a consortium aiming to buy a stake in Premier League giants Liverpool
Businessman Amit Bhatia is part of the consortium in talks to buy a small stake in Liverpool
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As reported by Sky News, the Amazon founder has previously considered bidding for the Seattle Seahawks – the reigning Super Bowl champions – and their NFL rivals, the Washington Commanders.
However, on neither occasion did Bezos proceed with a deal.
Bhatia, meanwhile, was co-owner at Championship side Queens Park Rangers. He has a stand named after him at the club’s stadium, Loftus Road, but surprisingly stepped down from the QPR ownership setup on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Fenway Sports Group said in a statement: ‘An investment consortium led, managed, and represented by Amit Bhatia has expressed interest in making a strategic minority investment in Liverpool Football Club.’
Nothing is official yet and, if it was to proceed, it would follow a similar structure to a deal made three years ago when FSG sold a small stake to sports investment firm Dynasty.
Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, originally operating it out of his garage. It now has a revenue of $716bn (£534.83bn) – the most of any company in the world – and employs almost 1.6 million people.
FSG have 33 partners including principal owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner, president Michael Gordon, as well as NBA icon LeBron James.
They have typically ceded a reasonable amount of influence to managers, being nowhere near as interfering in day-to-day affairs like the owners of Chelsea, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
Fans have often been frustrated that the club have not taken off the handbrake in the transfer window. The usual policy is for the club to be financially sustainable.
Andoni Iraola manages the Premier League giants, who are currently on tour in the USA
Last summer, they sanctioned the biggest transfer window spend by a Premier League club ever, £446m, though their club revenues had freed up space for that under Profit & Sustainability Rules.
Liverpool are currently in Chicago as they begin their pre-season tour of the USA.
Andoni Iraola’s side play Sunderland in Nashville on Saturday, followed by Wrexham in New York and Leeds back in Chicago, before returning home at the start of August.
Reds fans are excited to see defender Jeremy Jacquet, who signed from Rennes for £60m in January, but more incomings are anticipated.
It has been a slow summer at Anfield – the only other arrival is £34.5m World Cup winner Victor Munoz from Osasuna.
Iraola has identified two areas of concern and has issued an indirect appeal to transfer chiefs to kick on with summer plans.
‘It is difficult to say a number when the market is open,’ said the Basque. ‘You have to be always open to new options to improve the squad.
‘There are obvious situations where we know we need to sign players. Winger, for example. We definitely need to sign a winger. In other situations, we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what the cost is, how we see the players we have.
‘We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust that are not in the ideal situation. It depends on a lot of things.’
Iraola also said Liverpool are ‘very thin’ in terms of defensive depth, with Conor Bradley out for several months more yet after a long-term knee injury.
Asked about potential exits, Iraola insisted Alisson will remain No 1 after intense interest from Juventus earlier in the window and added on World Cup runner-up Mac Allister: ‘Alexis has been one of the best players of the club in the last years.
‘He has had a very good World Cup so it is normal that other clubs want our best players. It always happens in the market. I want to keep my good players. I am looking more to sign new players than losing the ones we have.’
