Not since a doomed foray into the thorny world of the transfer market has Todd Boehly had any real influence over the day-to-day at Chelsea. The American exits football as a diminished figure four years on, along with his fellow investor Mark Walter, and the first thing to say is that little will change in the Stamford Bridge boardroom just because Boehly has left the scene. Clearlake Capital, the US private equity firm founded by Behdad Eghbali and José E Feliciano, was already the majority owner and guiding force.
The trio of Boehly, Walter and the Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss had an equal share of a 38.5% stake but have drifted into irrelevance since the BlueCo consortium bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for £2.5bn in 2022. Clearlake, with Eghbali taking a prominent role, called the shots long before Wednesday night’s confirmation that it has full control after buying out Boehly and Walter. This split has been in the works for a while.
It is two years since cracks within the ownership group spilled into public. There was talk of Boehly losing faith in his working relationship with Clearlake. Boehly wanted a resolution.
People close to Boehly said he had investors ready to provide capital for a full takeover, although that drew eye-rolling from Clearlake. Its response was to consider buying Boehly out. Another suggestion from Clearlake was for Boehly to step down as chair and accept changes to governance that would leave the billionaire in little more than a ceremonial role.
No love lost there, then, although there was no immediate sign of movement from either side. A truce followed and Clearlake continued down its path. Eghbali is hugely influential.
It is only over the past year that Chelsea fans unhappy with the club’s difficulties in the post-Abramovich era have really started to home in on Clearlake. Feliciano, who recently became an investor in the Major League Baseball team the San Diego Padres, operates more in the background. Eghbali is more widely seen and was repeatedly targeted with abusive chants by supporters earlier this year.
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