Entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus has spoken about his desire to purchase Liverpool Football Club should he fail with his attempted takeover of Manchester United.
Zilliacus had claimed earlier this week that he had submitted a bid to buy the Old Trafford club. He would be up against British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Now Zilliacus has seemingly claimed that he would be interested in investment in Liverpool, should he fail with buying Man United. FSG had previously been open to a full takeover at Anfield, but John Henry has since clarified that they are only searching for new investors.
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But what do we know about Zilliacus?
Who is Thomas Zilliacus?
Zilliacus was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1954 and went on to have a brief career in politics before going on to study at university. He would later give up his role on Helsinki’s city council to move to Singapore to lead Nokia’s move into Asia.
He would stay with Nokia until 1993 where he resigned from his role as regional head of their Asia-Pacific business. From here he went on to found the Mobile FutureWorks Group investment company.
Zilliacus is now the executive chairman of that group, which has invested in numerous different companies such as OpenMobile. As well as this, the 69-year-old has also held several board and advisory positions, including as an independent director.
He has previous experience of venturing into the world of sports, having previously been the chairman of HJK from 1982-86. He was also the owner of Finnish ice hockey club Jokerit, until the team was sold in 2012 to Russian investors.
Thomas Zilliacus’ net worth
Zilliacus’ net worth is not publicly known, but it’s thought to be less than the likes of British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
For further context, FSG chief John Henry 's net worth is estimated to be $4bn, according to Forbes.
Thomas Zilliacus statement on Man United
Zilliacus has spoken publicly about his apparent interest in purchasing Manchester United. He even released a statement on Thursday outline his desire to own the Old Trafford club.
”Any sports club ultimately should belong to its fans. The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarchs take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend.
“The current market value of the club is just under 3.9 billion USD. That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than 6 dollars. My bid is built on equality with the fans.
"My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half. If every fan joins it means less than 3 dollars per fan.
"Each fan who joins will have access to an app which the fan, from anywhere in the world, can use to participate and cast his vote when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club. No decisions will be taken that are not supported by a majority of the fan base.
“Manchester United should not only be the best football club in the world, it should also be the leading club in the world in working to stop abuse, racism and hate speech in social media and on sports grounds.
“Should we be successful in our bid we will ensure that Manchester United, the best football club in the world, will operate on a foundation of respect, equality, dignity, diversity, racial harmony and democracy, and with its global fan base included and involved in all decisions."
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