April 11, (THEWILL) – Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman of the NBA, is one of the investors, who has joined Stephen Pagliuca’s quest to buy Chelsea.
Pagliuca, who owns the Boston Celtics of the NBA and Atalanta of Serie A, was at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday to witness Chelsea beat Southampton 6-0, before meeting with advisors and club administrators.
He has been looking for investors to join his offer, and he has reached an agreement with Tanenbaum, who also leads the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) company, which owns the Toronto Raptors, MLS side Toronto FC, and the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.
Tanenbaum was alleged to have started his own bid to buy Chelsea before the final shortlist of buyers was announced.
Pagliuca has also gotten assistance from John Burbank, the founder of the San Francisco hedge firm, Passport Capital, and Eduardo Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook.
Tanenbaum’s MLSE has a long history of investing in sports property development, with each of their teams owning and investing in their own stadiums.
The NBA chairman is likely to assist Pagliuca in his long-standing work to combat antisemitism, a cause that current Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, has long backed financially.
Tanenbaum has received a lot of acclaim for his willingness to utilise his platform and riches to promote social change, and people close to the campaign feel this will help Pagliuca.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
