The bidding process to become the new owner of Manchester United has become fairly confusing and chaotic. Missed and extended deadlines mean fans aren’t any closer to knowing who will take over from the Glazers, or if the Glazers will even go at all.
There are two main names that appear to be the frontrunners; Sir Jim Ratcliffe with INEOS and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim. They were the only publicly declared bidders until the name Thomas Zilliacus appeared.
So, who is Zilliacus and is he a worthy opponent of Ratcliffe and Jassim for the ownership of Manchester United?
Thomas Zilliacus is a Finnish businessman who currently lives in Singapore. He owned a football club in Finland back in the 1980s, though it would have been a totally different task to owning Manchester United.
The 69-year-old was part of Helsinki City Council until he decided to move to Singapore. He was the man at the centre of Finnish tech company Nokia’s move into Asia. These days, he is the executive chairman of Mobile FutureWorks Group investment company which he founded in 1993.
Unlike Ratcliffe and Jassim, the net worth of Zilliacus is not actually publicly known. It is widely believed he is not at the same level of wealth as the other two publicly known bidders, and his statement suggests he is looking to get fans involved in the purchase.
“The current market value of the club is just under 3.9 billion USD. That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than 6 dollars. My bid is built on equality with the fans,” part of his statement reads.
He has also made a public appeal to Ratcliffe and Jassim to join forces to buy Man Utd together.
I have this morning made a public appeal to my main rivals Sir Jim Ratcliffe and sheik Jassim to join forces with me to buy Manchester United together. By doing do we can focus on the good of the club instead of throwing away money in a mad rush to outbid each other #ManUnited
— Thomas Zilliacus (@TZilliacus) March 24, 2023
READ NEXT
As mentioned, Zilliacus was the chairman of a Finnish side in the past. Between 1982 and 1986 he was the chairman of HJK, who have won the Finnish top flight an incredible 32 times with one triumph coming with Zilliacus as chairman. They also won the Finnish Cup once with him at the helm.
Away from football, he has also been involved in ice hockey. He was one of the owners of Jokerit until they were sold to Russian investors in 2012.
When you look…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at 90min EN…