A former Liverpool CEO has been discussing the recent investment from 1892 Holdings, with Amit Bhatia, Jeff Bezos, and Eduardo Saverin among those involved in the consortium group
Jeff Bezos looks on before a game between the Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium
Jeff Bezos has invested in Liverpool as part of a consortium(Image: (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images))
Former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore has claimed that discussions surrounding Jeff Bezos's investment at the club are 'silly', with the real driving force behind the consortium being Amit Bhatia.
It follows swift and significant change at Anfield over the summer, with majority shareholders Fenway Sports Group (FSG) announcing the sale of a significant stake in the club to 1892 Holdings. Reports had circled about the potential investment, which was led by British entrepreneur Bhatia and backed by the Mittal family, with his father in-law Lakshmi Mittal being an Indian steel magnate.
There was later involvement from Amazon founder Bezos, via his K5 Sports fund group, as well as involvement from Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook.
While initial reporting had claimed that roughly one-third of Liverpool's stake had been bought, which valued it at roughly $6 billion, the eventual total stake sold was closer to 40 per cent.
The deal includes the possibility of a full takeover in the next year, while the strategic stake bought by 1892 Holdings could result in new ownership in the years beyond that, even if the option for a full buyout of FSG's stake isn't triggered in the coming 12 months.
While the dust still settles on the change, former CEO Peter Moore, who was at the club from 2017 to 2020, has given his verdict of the situation from the outside looking in, discussing Bezos's position and an eventual sale from FSG.
Liverpool CEO Peter Moore attends Liverpool Legends in New York at the 11th street bar
Former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore has been discussing the ownership situation(Image: (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))
He told Flashscore: "When an entity comes in at the valuation they apparently have for 38 per cent of the club, there has been a conversation about what ownership then looks like. You don't acquire that percentage for billions of dollars without having a path to full ownership.
"The Amazon angle is a little silly, because Jeff Bezos has hundreds of multimillion-dollar investments. He has never said a word about Liverpool. I assume he knows he's an investor.
"It's really Amit Bhatia, and as you may have seen, he is married to the daughter of [Lakshmi] Mittal, which is where the real money is. To his credit, Amit has been at Queens Park Rangers for 16 years. He's a football guy, he loves football.
"A number of friends of mine have met with him over the last few weeks, and he's a real football guy. He is the person to keep a very close eye on as a future owner, and I always put that in inverted commas, of Liverpool Football Club."
It remains to be seen what is next for Liverpool, in what is proving to be a time of change at Anfield across the board, whether that is on the pitch or off of it.
The next year will unveil more about the club's direction of travel and potential new plans under a different ownership structure, all while instability off the pitch is trying to be balance by stability on it.