Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have officially sold around a third of the club to a consortium of billionaires. It is a mega-money deal that sees the Boston-based FSG, who also own baseball behemoths the Red Sox, set for a £1.65billion payout. The consortium is led by former Queens Park Rangers supremo Amit Bhatia, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also indirectly involved — though the third-richest man in the world will not have a seat on the board. Bhatia will become the club’s vice chairman. Also on the consortium is technology pioneer Bryan Baum and Elaine Saverin, the wife of Facebook co-founder Eduardo who was Mark Zuckerberg’s class mate and business partner. Mike Gordon, FSG President, said: 'Liverpool has always been built by thinking beyond one season and making decisions with the club's long-term interests in mind. 'That approach continues to attract interest from respected investors and business leaders around the world. As we considered this opportunity, it became clear that Amit and the consortium shared our long-term philosophy and appreciation for what makes Liverpool special. Their experience and perspective will complement the strong foundation already in place, and we look forward to working together.'

Sources close to the deal and FSG suggest the move will not impact day-to-day running of the club and the relationship between the hierarchy and Bhatia, who has been in discussions for some time to make said purchase, may flexibly evolve over the years. FSG maintain the keys to the club and are the majority owners who can make decisions, though Bhatia and his 1892 Holdings will be consulted on big decisions. Bhatia believes that the consortium is a perfect mix of experience, relationships, contacts and reach across global business which will see them network into India and Asia.

Bhatia said: ‘We are incredibly proud to be investing in Liverpool Football Club and to be doing so alongside FSG. We have the utmost respect and admiration for FSG as owners and for everything they have achieved at Anfield. 'To be welcomed as a partner in a club of this stature is a huge privilege. We are making this investment because we believe deeply in Liverpool and its leadership, and we look forward to supporting the club's continued success for years to come.’

Bezos is the third-richest man in the world, according to Forbes. In 1994, he read that web usage was growing at a rate of 2,300 per cent a year and wanted to open an online book store, so set one up in his garage in Seattle alongside his then wife Mackenzie Scott. He changed the name from Cadabra to Amazon after the South American river as, at the time, website listings were alphabetised so an 'A' listing would be near the top. They slowly started selling more products and are now one of the most recognisable companies in the world. Bezos is no longer the CEO of Amazon but retains the title of executive chairman. He is also the owner of the Washington Post and founder of Blue Origin which competes with Elon Musk in the modern-day space race. He flew to space in 2021. The 62-year-old has dabbled in the idea of sports investment before. He was interested in buying the current Super Bowl winners Seattle Seahawks and fellow NFL team Washington Commanders but pulled out. He married former American journalist Lauren Sanchez last year.

Saverin was born in Brazil with Romanian heritage. He moved to Miami at age 13 and attended Harvard University. He became friends with fellow undergraduate Mark Zuckerberg and the pair wanted to set up a website for students to communicate, making a $1,000 investment each. The site was originally named 'The Facebook' and soon grew to other universities, later anyone in the world aged 13 or older. It now has more than 3billion users and its parent company, Meta Platforms, has a market value of around £1.12trillion. Saverin is played by Andrew Garfield in The Social Network film based on the book Accidental Billionaires about his rise at Facebook. Weeks before Facebook became a public company, he moved to Singapore and renounced his US citizenship. The 44-year-old is now head of B Capital, a venture capital firm.

Bhatia is a 46-year-old British-Indian with an investment banking background in sectors such as technology, media, property, real estate and health. He formerly worked on Wall Street before founding a construction company aged 32, which has more than 5,000 UK employees. He won the young entrepreneur of the year award in 2013. Bhatia married Vanisha Mittal in 2004 in a six-day wedding which the Guinness World Records recorded as the most-expensive ceremony of all time at £41m. Vanisha's father is Lakshmi Mittal, the world's 65th-richest man with £24.8bn as per Forbes. Bhatia worked at QPR for 19 years and his company, AyBe Capital, owns shares in the cricket franchise London Spirit, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen's YouTube channel and an indoor golf league founded by Rory McIlroy. The tycoon recently played a round of golf with basketball legend LeBron James and is regularly on the course with Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar.