Discussion concerning Liverpool’s ownership over the past few years has somewhat taken the attention away from the football itself in recent days.
Fans have been divided by supposedly ‘leaked’ emails relating to Fenway Sports Group’s takeover and it has emerged in the last day that they weren’t the only ones targeted as potential buyers.
It has been revealed that Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world, was approached during the latter stages of Tom Hicks and George Gillett’s time as Liverpool owners.
“The 10th anniversary of Hicks’ and Gillett’s takeover of Liverpool fell on February 6 and court documents pertaining to the sale of the club in October 2010 have revealed that an unsolicited approach was made to Gates, one of the world’s richest men, prior to a deal being struck with current owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG),” reported Tony Barrett for joe.co.uk.
“A deposition provided by Sir Martin Broughton, Liverpool’s chairman during the sales process, to the commercial division of the New York County Supreme Court discloses that Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, was one of a number of wealthy individuals approached during a global search for a buyer.”
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Robert Kraft, owner of the recently crowned Super Bowl champions the New England Patriots, was also subject to a similar approach, as explained in documents relating to a court case involving Gillett, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Mill Financial- a company which failed in an attempt to buy Liverpool.
Gates’ failure to act on the proposal left FSG as one of three keen parties.
Those disgruntled by Liverpool’s current ownership will label it a story of ‘what could have been’, although it’s pretty clear Gates himself showed little interest in investing in the club.
One can’t help but wonder what kind of owner he would have been.