The Clearlake Capital US investment firm now has full control of English soccer heavyweights Chelsea, after buying up the stakes of two minority shareholders – chair Todd Boehly, and director Mark Walter.
Clearlake, led by its co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano, previously owned 61.5% of the London Premier League side, while Boehly, Walter (who is currently being investigated in the US for alleged tax fraud), and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss each held a 12.8% stake.
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Now, however, Clearlake has moved to buy up the stakes of two of its smaller partners in the ownership group, although Wyss will remain in place – indeed, Chelsea have said he "will remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group."
The first reports around a Clearlake buyout of Boehly's and Walter's stakes being imminent came out earlier this month, and an official announcement was made by the club late yesterday.
Chelsea have had this ownership model in place since May, 2022, when previous owner Roman Abramovich was bought out in a sale forced through by the UK government – after the Russian was sanctioned by the UK government for perceived ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
None of Boehly, Walter, or Wyss, were permitted to sell their stakes to outside parties without first giving Clearlake an exclusive option to buy them out.
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.
Boehly, meanwhile, was set to be replaced as Chelsea's chair by Clearlake next year anyway, according to reports.
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 four games of the still-young 2026-27 Premier League season, and lie sixth in the 20-team table.
In a statement, Eghbali and Feliciano said: "Clearlake has served as Chelsea’s majority owner since 2022, and as we move to full control our focus is to continue investing in the club’s infrastructure, sporting performance, player development and delivering long-term success for Chelsea and the club’s supporters.”
Boehly added: "I have valued my partnership with Clearlake and the wider ownership group, and the collective decisions and investment we have made to support the immediate and long-term success of the club. I am confident that Chelsea is well positioned for continued success under Clearlake’s leadership.”
Chelsea have said that, concerning the day-to-day running of the club, and also regarding its overall strategy, there will be no changes.
