Billionaire Cubs Owner Tom Ricketts Is Getting Eviscerated Over His $4B Bid To Buy Chelsea
So there's been a lot of rumors turned allegations turned confirmed facts lately that the Ricketts family is in on Chelsea. Like they did with the Cubs, Tom is front running the bid while his dad Joe backs it up far away with a Scrooge McDuck level treasury. My initial thoughts were that there's no way they could make this move because we're routinely hearing about biblical losses as they sit dead-even 15th in the league in payroll. It felt like unreal and that's putting it lightly.
Fast forward to this week and it's widely accepted now that Ricketts is in the final 3 of the bid process, which is surprising to say the least. He's joined by Woody Johnson and some amalgamation of Saudi money that is suspiciously unverifiable. In each case, there's plenty of holes to poke. But even just a surface level review shows there's absolute chaos lurking across social media as Chelsea fans get to know Tom Ricketts.
The last one is pretty important. There's a whole sea of this shit but we'll stick to Griffin. He's also backing the deal financially which is a combination that makes Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Vader look like Bert & Ernie. The guy has so much money I don't even know where to start.
Bloomberg - Griffin, who’s worth more than $30 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is the founder of hedge fund Citadel and market-maker Citadel Securities. He has ties to the U.K. through his businesses, and he also bought a 200-year-old mansion overlooking London’s St. James’s Park about a half mile from Buckingham Palace.
He's tied to a bunch of shady shit and questionable behavior. Russian connections. The AMC stock stuff and more retail-trading accusations of corruption. Big time power player that just about everyone gets weird vibes from. That's the easiest way to put it. If he turns out to be a Bond villain I don't think anyone second guesses it.
Well now things have picked up to where Tom and Co. are getting on a plane to London to make their pitch. $4Billion to buy Chelsea FC when they've struggled to maintain a competitive window with the Cubs. Everything falling apart the moment Theo Epstein starts to make strides towards the exit row. This isn't how you draw up the takeover of one of the world's most recognizable sporting franchise. The fucking European Champions up for sale and here comes Tom Ricketts and Ken Griffin ready to profit. Honestly the mere thought makes me sick to my stomach and I'm not even a Chelsea guy.
The EPL is vey currently in the middle of a boom that should continue for another couple years. America has no clue on a general scale of how electric the league and sport (at it's highest level) can really be. The US National Team is coming along nicely and there's the 2026 World Cup at home. I don't think there's any way this thing doesn't explode in the next few years. And on that front, Tom Ricketts wants to reap the benefit.
Personally I think it's a terrible idea but I'm biased. I want the team he owns currently to be in a better spot before I could possibly consider endorsing his bid to go abroad. Stay home Tom and get things right for us. Last thing these Chelsea people need is Daniel Descalso playing left-back on a team friendly deal.
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