After Elon Musk’s father revealed the world’s richest man’s interest in Liverpool, the Merseysiders have been handed a warning about how life under the billionaire could go
Liverpool supporters have been told that Elon Musk would be as brutal as Sir Jim Ratcliffe if the X mogul was to takeover at Anfield.
Musk’s interest in Liverpool was suddenly thrust into the spotlight when the South African’s father, Errol, revealed the prospect of purchasing the Reds would attract the multi-billionaire. In 2022, Liverpool’s current ownership group, Fenway Sports Group, put the club up for sale, with a purported valuation between £4 billion and £4.5bn.
Any interest in selling the club appears to have faded after they sold a minority stake to US investment firm Dynasty Equity in 2023. It’s also been claimed that Musk would need a figure north of £8bn if he was to buy the club – £28.1bn less than what he paid to purchase Twitter in 2022.
While the thought of an individual with a net worth of £344.7bn would make many fans giddy, sport finance expert Dr Rob Wilson warned Liverpool fans to look at what’s happened to fierce rivals Manchester United under Ratcliffe.
In an interview with Slingo, Dr Wilson said: “Liverpool fans should be wary. When Musk took control of X he dumped many executives on high salaries alongside a host of functional staff. He saw the organisation as being bloated and wanted to drive efficiency.
“The profile of INEOS principal Sir Jim Ratcliffe is not dissimilar to the modus operandi of Musk. Efficiency drives across the board have led INEOS to downsize a ballooning staff base at Old Trafford.
“LFC are in a better place with their headcount – FSG have already cleared the decks, but we’d expect more efficiency gains with any US investor. There will be an inevitability regarding staff change and he will downsize to drive up margins.
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“Revenue then becomes king – price rises, new commercial opportunities and new markets all exercised to squeeze more revenue. For those hoping that any outside investment will accelerate contract negotiations with star players like Mohammed Salah, I’d think again.
“With the contract negotiations with star players stalling – and in reality offering no off field value to LFC ie Salah would cost too much to renew and has no resale value – expect a significant change with the playing squad. Perhaps they’ll follow Chelsea in ripping up the rule book. Only time will tell.”
Ratcliffe was seen as a beacon of hope for United supporters, who had grown resentful towards main shareholders, the Glazer family. Instead, since the INEOS billionaire purchased a minority stake and took over the football operations, there have been mass redundancies, the cancellation of staff bonuses, instability in the boardroom with the sacking of Dan Ashworth and poor results on the pitch.
Ratcliffe’s measures have been carried out with a desire to reduce costs at Old Trafford. Musk did something similar, only on a much bigger scale, when he took over Twitter. He fired up to 80% of the employees at the social media site, including many highly-paid executives.
Meanwhile, Liverpool suffered a rare setback on Wednesday night, losing the first leg of their League Cup semi-final tie with Tottenham Hotspur 1-0. Arne Slot’s side return to Anfield on Saturday for the FA Cup third round, where they will face League Two relegation battlers Accrington Stanley.
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