According to The Athletic, Mark Walter expects to profit from selling his 12.8% stake in Chelsea and will continue investing in sports teams.

Co-owner Todd Boehly, who also holds a 12.8% stake in the club, and Walter are in talks with Clearlake about selling their shares.

The two, along with Hansjörg Wyss (12.8%) and Clearlake (61.5%), formed a consortium in June 2022 to acquire Chelsea from sanctioned Roman Abramovich for £2.5 billion.

Walter's spokesman stated that after the deal closes, the billionaire will continue investing in sports teams.

Walter's spokesman told The Athletic, with Bloomberg first reporting the news: "This potential transaction values Mark Walter's Chelsea Football Club shares higher than his initial investment, marking another successful sports investment for him.

"Following this exit, Walter intends to continue making sports-related investments, an area where he and TWG Global have a strong track record. As a minority shareholder, Walter did not proactively initiate a proposal to sell his shares, which have appreciated over time."

Sources close to the matter, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, said Walter and Boehly's agreement to sell their stakes to Clearlake is nearly finalized.

Last month, Walter sold his controlling stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a record valuation of $12.5 billion. Walter had acquired the NBA team just 14 months earlier for $10 billion. The decision comes as the U.S. Department of Justice investigates his business affairs. Federal investigators are examining insurance companies owned by Walter.

Walter and Boehly have been business partners for years and jointly own the Los Angeles Dodgers of MLB and the Los Angeles Sparks of WNBA.

Since The Athletic revealed tensions between Boehly and Clearlake two years ago, the possibility of one party exiting the consortium has always existed. Sources close to the American private equity firm have consistently stated they have no intention of selling their stake to Boehly or Walter, and are more likely to increase their ownership rather than exit.

Representatives from Chelsea and Boehly were contacted for comment.

What are Walter and Boehly's shares worth?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this is especially true at Chelsea. Following the £2.5 billion acquisition four years ago, substantial capital has been injected into the club, much of it spent on players.

As The Athletic previously reported, total investment in the BlueCo project reached £4.2 billion by end of June 2025, and has continued growing since then. Of this amount as of June 2025, £2.9 billion came from equity investment and £1.3 billion from external loans, which also include payment-in-kind loans where interest accrues at high rates.

Recently, several industry valuation firms have valued Chelsea slightly above £3 billion, not far from the owners' current equity investment to date.

Sellers naturally have incentive to push prices higher, but conversely, Clearlake may be unwilling to buy additional shares at too low a price. It would send a signal to the market that even just over four years after the current majority shareholders took over, Chelsea is worth far less than they expected. Clearlake currently has no urgent plans to sell, but Chelsea's valuation needs to rise sharply.

What is certain is that Chelsea today is nowhere near the valuations discussed with Clearlake and other potential buyers when the club was sold in spring 2022. At that time, Joe Ravitch, one of the founders of Raine Group, the merchant bank responsible for selling the club, said: "My assumption is Chelsea and all the top Premier League clubs will likely be worth more than $10 billion (around £7.7 billion at the time, approximately £7.4 billion now) within five years."

Unless oil literally strikes the center circle at Stamford Bridge within the next 12 months, this prediction will clearly fall far short.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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