The majority owners of English soccer heavyweights Chelsea, Clearlake Capital, are close to signing off on an agreement that would see them buy out their current minority co-owners, Todd Boehly and Mark Walter, according to reports.
The tie-up would see Boehly (the current chair of Chelsea's ownership, and club chair) and Walter (who is currently being investigated in the US for alleged tax fraud) both turn a profit on their initial investment in the West London Premier League club, and would value Chelsea – in total – at around £5 billion ($6.7 billion), media sources have reported.
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Boehly, Walter (those two are longtime business partners), and the Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss all own equal stakes in Chelsea – each holds about 12.8% of the club – following Chelsea's takeover by them and Clearlake in May 2022. That deal – through which sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club – valued Chelsea at £2.5 billion.
Currently, none of the trio are permitted to sell their stakes to outside parties without first giving Clearlake – which holds a controlling 61.5% stake – an exclusive option to buy them out.
The Bloomberg publication has quoted a statement from a spokesperson for Walter, saying that an agreement is potentially close.
That spokesperson commented: "This potential transaction values Mark Walter’s stake in Chelsea Football Club at a premium to his initial investment and is another successful sports investment for him."
“After this exit, Mr Walter intends to make future sports-related investments."
Walter, amidst the aforementioned tax fraud claims, recently ended up striking a deal to sell the iconic LA Lakers NBA basketball to US businessman Josh Kushner – the brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law – and Bob Iger, the former chief executive of media giant Disney.
Walter had paid around $5 billion for his 75% holding in the Lakers only last year, and has now agreed to sell his holding in a deal that values the successful NBA team at around $9 billion overall.
He is being investigated by the US Department of Justice over allegedly not disclosing $21 billion in loans to state insurance regulators – Walter's holding company, TWG Global, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing – while his sale of the Lakers is also turning into a messy affair.
Clearlake's position in Chelsea is managed by Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano.
That duo, it has been reported, were due to move to replace Boehly as Chelsea's chair next year anyway.
Both Boehly and Walter also own minority stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball.
On the pitch, Chelsea have won two of their first three games of the still-young 2026-27 Premier League season.
