Roman Abramovich Thread

[NikkiCFC 8,048]

PM Boris Johnson: “Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are key international partners…We have long, long standing relationships with this part of the world and we need to recognise the very important relationship that we have.”

[gdlk 272]

So if the bid from Saudia Media Group is real, it cant be restricted by government. 

[Superblue 6,372]

10 minutes ago, gdlk said:

So if the bid from Saudia Media Group is real, it cant be restricted by government. 

Reports are suggesting the Government will not be involved in the decision making process of the sale. Their primary concern is the money does not reach Abramovich.

Assuming this is the case it comes down therefore to (1) Raine Group deciding the best deal, and (2) the Premier League approving the ownership.

I think the Premier League one could be the sticking point. Newcastle took a long time to get their ownership approved, time that we don't have (although their links to the Saudi state due to the PIF fund are a bit more obvious and glaring than a privately owned Saudi company).

However, again according to reports, the Raine Group have already put a number of stipulations in place including proof of funds, detailed background information on potential owners, consortium members, etc - this would suggest perhaps they are working with the Premier League to ensure a good amount of due diligence is done at this stage to speed up the whole process. If Saudi Media can prove all the requirements in their bid then I would expect it to be treated and considered in the same vain as anybody else bidding for us and if reports are to be believed they've bid the highest figure for us so far.

The bigger issues will be media driven. They look ready to move on from Chelsea once the sale is done and take aim at Newcastle now. If we become Saudi owned we'll encounter the same issues and criticism even if our ownership shouldn't, at least on paper, be anywhere near as controversial if the ownership isn't linked back to the state. But we all know it doesn't work like that, the media have shown their position on our club in the last week or two.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Pizy 18,418]

Just anyone other than Woody Johnson at this point. Even if the Boehly consortium doesn’t spend mega money on transfers every summer I think he can at least be trusted to keep us competitive and dangerous near the top of the table.

Woody Johnson would turn us into Arsenal. His cheap ass would let us rot for years and merely be “okay,” spending money only when things get desperate and the fans are revolting.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Blues Forever

[Pizy 18,418]

Ken Griffin, another right wing Trumper asshole. 😒

 

[Tricky Houseman 7]

What's this Ken Griffin like? I'd sooner have an American owner than a Saudi one, lesser of two evils. Depends what they want the club for, it's good he owns a sports team already, in that they should realise that investing in the club brings its rewards both on and off the pitch. Something the Glazer family haven't quite fully grasped. When I say invest I don't just mean money. You need the correct personnel in the right positions, some parts of our club lack this i.e.that ticket fiasco yesterday. So time and expertise are the things you need , money just greased the wheels 

[NikkiCFC 8,048]

This guy Griffin is richest of all Americans mentioned before.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

1 minute ago, NikkiCFC said:

This guy Griffin is richest of all Americans mentioned before.

Bad news along with The Ricketts family.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Blues Forever

[Pizy 18,418]

Ken Griffin is your stereotypical mega rich hedge fund guy. He often makes headlines here in the States for donating huge sums of cash to right wing shitheads like Trump and pushing for the slashing of taxes for the ultra-wealthy so they can line their pockets even more. He is also very well known in real estate circles for buying some of the most expensive properties in the world, including spending a record $238 million on the most expensive flat in history in NYC.

He likes to launder his shady reputation by donating to museums and charities like anyone of his stature. 

Basically, he’s like the mega-rich movie villain who everyone roots against.

 

[NikkiCFC 8,048]

3 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

Bad news along with The Ricketts family.

From what I read about Ken I like him a lot.

And has some similarities with Roman. Likes sport, has art collection (spent over billion for paintings), divorced a couple of times, had stars singing for him at private parties. A lot of charity work.

Guy donated hundreds of millions to museums. And education as well. Top lad.

 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Vesper 29,019]

6 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Ken Griffin is your stereotypical mega rich hedge fund guy. He often makes headlines here in the States for donating huge sums of cash to right wing shitheads like Trump and pushing for the slashing of taxes for the ultra-wealthy so they can line their pockets even more. He is also very well known in real estate circles for buying some of the most expensive properties in the world, including spending a record $238 million on the most expensive flat in history in NYC.

He likes to launder his shady reputation by donating to museums and charities like anyone of his stature. 

Basically, he’s like the mega-rich movie villain who everyone roots against.

 

In a 2012 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Griffin said that the rich actually have too little influence in politics.^[96] Griffin identified as a Ronald Reagan Republican. He said the belief "that a larger government is what creates prosperity, that a larger government is what creates good" is wrong.^[97]

In a November 2015 interview on CNBC, Griffin said he admires Scott Walker claiming he is an "absolute champion of free markets and a champion of smaller government".^[98]

In April 2016, because Citadel owned over 1 million shares of McDonald's, Griffin was the target of protestors supporting the Fight for $15.^[99]

In May 2017, Griffin praised Donald Trump’s efforts at tax and healthcare reform^[100]

In 2018, it was announced that Griffin had been appointed the national finance chair for the New Republican PAC fueling, Senator Rick Scott‘s Super PAC.^[101]

In November 2018, Griffin criticized Donald Trump's tweets berating Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell calling the tweets "completely inappropriate for the president of the United States".^{[102][103][104][105]}

In January 2019, Griffin was singled out by Elizabeth Warren on a Facebook post as someone who can pay her Ultra-Millionaire Tax.^[106] During a March 2019 interview with David Rubenstein, Griffin criticized Elizabeth Warren's proposals saying "soaking the rich doesn't work".^[107]

In January 2020, Griffin was absent from a signing ceremony for the phase-one trade deal with China at the White House, for which he was criticized by President Donald Trump.^{[108][109][105]}

In September 2020, Griffin wrote an op-ed published in the Chicago Tribune stating his opposition to Governor of Illinois J. B. Pritzker's "Fair Tax" proposal that would change Illinois income tax from a flat tax to a graduated tax.^[110][111]

In an October 2020 email to Citadel LLC's Chicago employees, Griffin criticized Pritzker's tax plan and alluded to the possibility of moving his company out of Illinois.^[112][113]

While being interviewed by Paul Tudor Jones at the Robin Hood Foundation investor conference in October 2020, Griffin criticized Joe Biden's plans to raise the long-term capital gains tax rate.

In a 2012 interview, Griffin said that people should be able to make unlimited contributions to politicians, but that these contributions should be public.^[116]

Griffin has made political donations to conservative political candidates, parties, and organizations such as American Crossroads and the Republican Governors Association.^[116]

During the 2010 United States elections, Griffin donated $721,600 to federal candidates and political committees. Except for a $2,400 contribution to then United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd, all of the contributions were to Republicans.^[117]

In December 2015, Griffin endorsed Marco Rubio for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and stated that he planned to donate millions to a pro-Rubio super PAC.^[118] Before this endorsement, Griffin had donated $100,000 each to three super PACs supporting Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Scott Walker for the GOP nomination.^[119]

Griffin was the was the biggest donor to Rahm Emanuel’s campaign for second term as Mayor of Chicago.^[96]

After Trump won the 2016 Republican nomination, Griffin did not contribute to his campaign.^[120]

In 2017, he contributed $20 million to the campaign of Governor of Illinois Bruce Rauner.^[121]

In March 2020, Griffin contributed $1 million to the 1820 PAC created to support the re-election bid of U. S. Senator Susan Collins in Maine.^[122] In late 2020, Griffin donated another $500,000 to the 1820 PAC.^[123]

In 2020, Griffin donated $20 million to the Coalition To Stop The Proposed Tax Hike Amendment, a group opposing the Illinois Fair Tax in its 2020 referendum.^[111][124] Weeks later, he donated another $26.75 million to the coalition.^[125][126] Griffin later donated another $7 million to the group bringing his total contributions to $53.75 million.^[127][128]

In 2020, Griffin donated $2 million to an anti-retention effort for Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, a democrat on the Supreme Court of Illinois.^[129][130]

Griffin supported Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia.^[131] In October 2020, He was criticized for a $2 million contribution to a Super PAC supporting Loeffler and funded by her husband, New York Stock Exchange Chairman Jeffrey Sprecher, just after one of Citadel LLC's companies needed approval from Sprecher for a merger.^[132]

Griffin contributed a total of $66 million to the 2020 United States elections.^[133]

Citadel gave $800,000 to Janet Yellen for speaking fees.^[134]

In 2021, Griffin donated $5 million to Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida.^[135] Griffin's donations to DeSantis prompted criticism of a possible conflict of interest when DeSantis began promoting Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' therapeutic treatment for COVID-19; Griffin's Citadel Securities owned $15.9 million of shares in Regeneron.^{[136][137][138][139]} A spokesperson for Citadel denied any wrongdoing, noting that the hedge fund has much larger investments in Pfizer and Moderna.^[136][137]

Later in 2021, Griffin promised to donate twice the amount to the Republican opponent of incumbent governor J. B. Pritzker that Pritzker gives to himself for the 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election. Pritzker has so far given $15 million to his campaign which now has the potential to become one of the costliest elections of the 2022 midterms. ^[140]

[Pizy 18,418]

^ yeah, he’s not a good guy. He has directly contributed to the awful state of US politics in a big way.

[OhForAGreavsie 5,898]

37 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Ken Griffin is your stereotypical mega rich hedge fund guy. He often makes headlines here in the States for donating huge sums of cash to right wing shitheads like Trump

Assuming this is true it would be a total deal breaker for me.

Edited March 16, 2022 by OhForAGreavsie

[NikkiCFC 8,048]

1 minute ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

Total deal breaker for me.

I dont see why. He is Republican like half US. There is not wrong or right there. Like supporting Real or Barca. Just personal preference.

Zero influence on us or Chelsea. Our last owner was close to Putin ffs and was amazing owner. Griffin donated 150m to Harvard or 40m to MOMA. That tells more about him.

If he is willing to spend over billion on paintings on his walls he is willing to spend big on football club.