With FSG having sold a 30 percent stake in Liverpool, two new members will join the club's board alongside new vice-chairman Amit Bhatia, who heads up the investing consortium
Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (L) and his wife Elaine Andriejanssen (R) attend the 99.co second Anniversary and 99PRO Launch in Singapore on May 26, 2016. / AFP / ROSLAN RAHMAN (Photo credit should read ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Elaine Saverin (right), wife of Eduardo Saverin, is one of the three new members joining Liverpool's board(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool will have three new members joining the club’s board after it was confirmed that Fenway Sports Group has sold a stake in the club to a consortium including Jeff Bezos - although the Amazon founder will not be taking an active role in the running of the Reds.
A statement on Friday confirmed 1892 Holdings has completed its investment in Liverpool, with the group believed to have bought a stake worth around 30 percent in the club. The deal is thought to now value the entire club at roughly $6 billion.
The consortium is headed by Amit Bhatia, with investments from Bhatia and the Mittal Family Trusts, K5 Sports (a K5 Global Fund), with Bezos as the lead investor in the K5 Sports fund, and EE Capital, the family office of Elaine and Eduardo Saverin.
Bhatia becomes the new vice-chairman of Liverpool, as confirmed on Friday, but Bezos and Eduardo Saverin - co-founder of Facebook - will not be joining him in the boardroom.
Instead, Saverin’s wife Elaine and Bryan Baum will take their places on the board, with FSG remaining in operational control as majority owners.
Who is Elaine Saverin?
Elaine Saverin, nee Andriejanssen, is the wife of Eduardo, having married the Facebook co-founder back in 2015. They reportedly met while studying at Tufts and Harvard respectively in the US.
The Singaporean is executive chairman of EE Capital Pte, as well as chairwoman and co-founder - along with her husband - of the Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation, a charitable organization focused on supporting education, healthcare, poverty alleviation, and environmental conservation projects around the world.
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Speaking to the Straits Times earlier this year, Elaine said: “Eduardo and I started the foundation out of a quiet conviction: that when a family’s resources are guided by purpose, they can be a tremendous and meaningful force for good.
“From the beginning, we carry a profound sense of responsibility – not only to respond to the urgent needs of today, but also to strengthen the systems that future generations will rely upon.”
Who is Bryan Baum?
Bryan Baum is a co-founder and managing partner at K5 Global, an investment firm based in California which, according to its website, focuses on “partnering with founders and operators across technology, sports and entertainment, and global commerce.”
MIAMI BEACH, FL - DECEMBER 02: (L-R) Leo Seigal, fashion model Rebeccah Kahkeida and Bryan Baum attend V.A.U.L.T Art Basel Party on December 2, 2011 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Serg Alexander/Getty Images for VAULT)
Bryan Baum, pictured (right) during an event in 2011, will take a place on Liverpool's board(Image: Getty Images)
The firm operates along with K5 Sports, of which Bezos is the biggest investor in the venture capital firm, hence Baum’s new involvement in Liverpool.
Baum himself is an entrepreneur who has founded and sold multiple companies, including Blue Vision Labs, a localization and mapping software company for self-driving cars, which was sold to Lyft in 2018.
He is also said to have made over 200 investments in companies including Uber, Airbnb and Slack, while also being on the board of the Federal Drug Agents Foundation.