Liverpool, one of the greatest football clubs in the world and Bill Gates, the richest person in the world...what a combination that could have been! And it came very close to happening. It has been revealed that the Microsoft billionaire actually turned down an offer to buy Liverpool FC, before the Fenway Sports Group took over.
Liverpool fans slam current club owner
In the last few months of the Tom Hicks/George Gillett ownership, Gates was given the option of buying Liverpool, whose fans were increasingly frustrated with the US businessmen's handling of the club. There was a series of protest by loyal Liverpool fans against the club's owners.
However, eventually it was New England Sports Ventures (now known as Fenway Sports Group), that completed the 300m takeover of the Reds.
FSG faced stiff competition from Mill Financial and Meriton. And reports suggest that the two latter organisations even offered more money than FSG. It is believed that their offers were not entertained as FSG had already negotiated with the club to buy Liverpool .
But, there are documents, now out in the open, that Gates was approached to takeover Liverpool, even before it was offered to FSG. It was not only Gates, the club were looking at various options elsewhere in the world, which also included New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
"The 10th anniversary of Hicks' and Gillett's takeover of Liverpool fell on February 6 and court documents pertaining to the sale of the club in October 2010 have revealed that an unsolicited approach was made to Gates, one of the world's richest men, prior to a deal being struck with current owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG)," Tony Barnett wrote for joe.co.uk.
"The nature of the approach, along with a similar attempt to engage Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner, is revealed in legal documents lodged in the USA relating to an ongoing court battle between Mill Financial, a company which tried and failed to buy Liverpool, Gillett and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)."
"A deposition provided by Sir Martin Broughton, Liverpool's chairman during the sales process, to the commercial division of the New York County Supreme Court discloses that Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, was one of a number of wealthy individuals approached during a global search for a buyer."
One wonders how much time Gates spent mulling over the offerand diving into the world of football (or soccer as they call it in the US).
Would it have been better or worse for Liverpool? That is for you to answer in the comments section.
