{"id":469591,"date":"2025-10-02T22:59:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T22:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/469591\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T22:59:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T22:59:19","slug":"arsenal-fan-worth-7-5bn-once-linked-with-gunners-takeover-shares-big-personal-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/469591\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal fan worth \u00a37.5bn once linked with Gunners takeover shares big personal news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After trying to buy the Gunners in 2021, Spotify founder and Arsenal fan Daniel Ek has now announced a major change to his business empire and day-to-day role.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ek, a 42-year-old Swedish national, attempted to take over Arsenal<\/a> in the immediate aftermath of Stan Kroenke\u2019s<\/a> star-crossed plot to take the club into a European Super League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He launched a \u00a32bn bid, enlisting club legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira<\/a> for the PR war. A \u2018golden share\u2019 scheme was loosely proposed, giving fans the right to veto board decisions.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ Click to subscribe to the podcast \"\"\/ <\/a><\/p>\n

But Josh Kroenke<\/a>, whose father had only taken outright control of the Gunners three years earlier, dismissed the approach as unserious, saying: \u201cWe get bids for the club all the time, from many different parties around the world and that speaks to the strength of the Arsenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JoshPhoto by David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Since then, Arsenal have enjoyed a revival under Mikel Arteta<\/a> and, after a two-decade drought, are now arguably favourites to win the Premier League<\/a> this season.<\/p>\n

Last night\u2019s 2-0 Champions League win over Olympiacos<\/a> will give them confidence that they can have another strong season in Europe too. Financially, that is even more significant than domestic success.<\/p>\n

And while the scars from the European Super League will likely never fade entirely, it is safe to say the relationship between the fans and the owners is stronger now than at any point in recent history.<\/p>\n

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) have certainly ramped up their spending. Arsenal blasted over \u00a3250m on transfers in the summer, pushing them close to the limit of UEFA\u2019s spending rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All that said, there probably isn\u2019t much appetite for a takeover at present. But could Ek one day return to the table with a new bid?<\/p>\n

Arsenal fan and takeover suitor Daniel Ek steps back from Spotify<\/p>\n

Since Ek founded the music streaming service Spotify in 2006, the company\u2019s value has reached over \u00a3110bn, while his own personal fortune has topped \u00a37.5bn.<\/p>\n

For context, Kroenke is worth more than double that figure, although he has married into the Walmart family and is 36 years Ek\u2019s senior.<\/p>\n

Spotify has been the main source of Ek\u2019s wealth, but in recent years he has turned more to other tech investments in Europe.<\/p>\n

And this week, he announced that he was stepping down as the company\u2019s CEO. He will remain on as executive chairman, a position he is said to have been effectively working in since 2023 anyway.<\/p>\n

The Swede has never ruled out a renewed bid for Arsenal, though he has suggested that it is unlikely any time soon.<\/p>\n

But if ever there was a time for Ek to take stock and reassess the possibility of a takeover in North London, it is now, after stepping back from the company he has helped build for over two decades.<\/p>\n

\"APhoto by Clive Mason\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Spotify does, however, have an existing relationship with another European football giant, Barcelona.<\/p>\n

The company pays the equivalent of over \u00a350m per season for the naming rights and front-of-shirt sponsorship rights for the La Liga club.<\/p>\n

When will Stan Kroenke sell Arsenal?<\/p>\n

Kroenke has been involved in Arsenal since 2007, initially buying a sub-10 per cent stake.<\/p>\n

His was something of a hostile takeover. He won a battle with Alisher Usmanov to take full control of the club, buying the remaining shares to go to 100 per cent equity in 2018.<\/p>\n

While initially he wanted the club to be entirely self-sufficient, the billionaire has invested nearly \u00a3400m of his own money after revenue to make the club competitive on the pitch again.<\/p>\n

All in all, he is well over \u00a31bn deep into his investment in North London. So when does he plan to make a return?<\/p>\n

He has two options.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Wait until the club is consistently profitable and draw dividends<\/li>\n
  2. Sell the club on to another investor for a massive markup<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Arsenal are yet to turn a profit since Kroenke took 100 per cent control, losing over \u00a3300m in the last five financial years. However, they are likely to reveal a surplus once they file their accounts for 2024-25.<\/p>\n

    \"ArsenalArsenal profit and loss account<\/p>\n

    Credit: Adam Williams\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

    But it would take a long, long time for the club to generate profits sufficient for him to be up on his \u00a31bn-plus investment, especially while UEFA spending rules and Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) fail to increase wage and transfer market inflation.<\/p>\n

    So selling the club to another investor looks the more likely approach.<\/p>\n

    Given that Arsenal are considering expanding the Emirates, a process unlikely to be finished within the next five years, it doesn\u2019t look like an exit is coming any time soon.<\/p>\n

    \"ChartPremier League club value growth graphic<\/p>\n

    Credit: Adam Williams\/TBR Football\/GRV Media<\/p>\n

    Arsenal are routinely valued at around \u00a33bn by the likes of Forbes and KPMG\u2019s Football Benchmark, however, so Kroenke could theoretically walk away with a 3x return as soon as he found a buyer.<\/p>\n

    And with each passing year, notional values continue to climb. So a would-be investor, be that Ek or anyone else, is going to need seriously deep pockets to even come to the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After trying to buy the Gunners in 2021, Spotify founder and Arsenal fan Daniel Ek has now announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[161,51,78232,162,4308,4310,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-469591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-daniel-ek","11":"tag-english-premier-league","12":"tag-football-finance","13":"tag-stan-kroenke","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115307058489454481","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}