Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich To Sell Chelsea FC–Donate Proceeds To Help Victims In Ukraine

Topline

Roman Abramovich said Wednesday he is selling his English soccer team Chelsea FC and will donate all net proceeds to victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine, ending his nearly 20-year ownership of the club amid political pressure for the British government to sanction Russian billionaires.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is seen on the stand during the Barclays Premier League match between … [+] Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on December 19, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Abramovich said in a statement he has asked the team to establish a charitable foundation, where he will donate all net proceeds of the sale “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.”

He said the foundation will provide funds toward urgent needs of the victims, as well as supporting the “long-term work of recovery.”

The billionaire will not ask for any loans to be repaid, appearing to allude to a $2 billion loan he lent the club during his ownership.

The sale of the team will not be fast-tracked and will follow due process, according to Abramovich.

His announcement follows an attempt to shield his ownership of the club by handing control of it to the team’s charitable foundation over the weekend, which did not stop multiple members of Parliament from calling for sanctions against Abramovich.

Abramovich purchased Chelsea FC for about $190 million in 2003, and the team is now valued more than $3 billion, according to Forbes estimates.

Big Number

$12.4 billion. That’s Abramovich’s net worth, according to Forbes’ real-time estimates, which is down from $13.6 billion on Saturday.

Key Background

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson levied sanctions against Russian banks, members of Putin’s inner circle and other wealthy Russians who keep their wealth in the country last week after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich’s Saturday announcement that he would give control of Chelsea to the team’s charitable foundation came after Chris Bryant, a member of Parliament, said Abramovich shouldn’t be allowed to own a soccer club in the U.K. amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and after other members of Parliament called for Abramovich himself to be sanctioned. MP Keir Starmer asked Johnson “why on earth” he has not moved to levy sanctions against the billionaire on Wednesday.

What To Watch For

If the U.K. or any other country moves to personally sanction Abramovich. President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening U.S. authorities would work with European countries to target Russian oligarchs by seizing “their yachts, their luxury apartments [and] their private jets.” Forbes reports two of Abramovich’s yachts, the 533-foot Eclipse and 458-foot Solaris vessels, could be targeted.

Tangent

Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial and museum, reportedly lobbied the United States to not sanction Abramovich. Yad Vashem, along with Israel’s chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau and Sheba Medical Center Director Yitshak Kreiss wrote a letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Israel warning sanctions could impair the Jewish institutions that depend on him for donations, according to the letter, which was first reported Saturday by Israel’s Channel 12 News and was reviewed by the Washington Post. Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan reportedly said in the letter that Abramovich was the museum’s second-largest private donor, behind the late Sheldon Adelson and his widow, Miriam.