According to multiple media reports including The Athletic, The Guardian, and Bloomberg, Chelsea shareholders Boehly and Walter are set to sell their stakes to Clearlake Capital.

The reports indicate that Chelsea shareholder Mark Walter is expected to profit from selling his 12.8% stake at Chelsea to majority shareholder Clearlake Capital. Boehly, co-owner of the club and also holding 12.8%, is also negotiating with Clearlake Capital regarding the sale of his stake.

In June 2022, these two, along with Hansjörg Wyss (12.8% stake) and Clearlake Capital (61.5% stake), formed a consortium to purchase Chelsea for £2.3 billion from Roman Abramovich, who had been sanctioned.

Walter's spokesman also stated that the billionaire would continue to invest in sports teams after the deal closes.

According to Bloomberg's initial report, Walter's spokesman said in a statement to The Athletic: "This potential transaction values Mark Walter's stake in Chelsea Football Club higher than his initial investment, marking another successful sports investment for him."

"Following this divestment, Walter intends to make future sports-related investments based on his proven track record in this area with TWG Global. As a minority shareholder, Walter did not initiate the proposed transaction to sell his stake, which has been under consideration for some time."

Sources, requesting anonymity to protect the parties involved, have revealed that a deal with Clearlake Capital to acquire Walter's and Boehly's stakes is close to completion.

Last month, Walter sold most of his stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a record valuation of $12.5 billion, just 14 months after acquiring the NBA team for $10 billion. His decision came amid the Department of Justice investigating his business dealings—federal investigators are examining Walter's insurance companies.

Walter and Boehly are long-time business partners and co-owners of the MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

The possibility of an internal buyout within the consortium has existed since Boehly's relationship with Clearlake Capital deteriorated two years ago. Sources close to the American private equity firm have consistently stated they have no intention of selling their stake to Boehly or Walter, and tend to increase their holdings rather than divest.

Representatives of Chelsea Football Club and Boehly have been contacted for comment.

What Could Walter's and Boehly's Stakes Be Worth?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this is especially true with Chelsea—since the £2.5 billion takeover four years ago, the club has made substantial investments, primarily in player transfers.

According to previous reports by The Athletic, total capital committed to the BlueCo project reached £4.2 billion by the end of June 2025, with additional funds injected since then. In the June 2025 figures, £2.9 billion was equity investment and £1.3 billion was external debt, including a loan bearing interest in kind on which interest is accruing at an alarming rate.

Recently, some valuation firms in the industry have valued Chelsea at just over £3 billion, a figure only marginally higher than the equity capital invested by the current owners to date.

The sellers naturally have incentive to push the price higher, but paradoxically, Clearlake Capital may also be reluctant to buy back a larger stake at too low a price. Doing so would signal to the market that, despite Chelsea having played in the Premier League for only just over four years, its valuation is significantly lower than what the current owners initially expected. Clearlake Capital currently has no intention of selling, but Chelsea's valuation needs to increase as soon as possible.

It is clear that Chelsea's current valuation falls far short of the anticipated valuation that Clearlake Capital and other potential buyers were told about when the club was put up for sale in spring 2022. At that time, Joe Ravitch, co-founder of Raine Group, the investment bank handling the sale, remarked: "I would estimate that within five years, Chelsea and all the top Premier League clubs will be valued at over $10 billion (then £7.7 billion, now £7.4 billion)."

Unless oil suddenly gushes from beneath the center circle of Stamford Bridge over the next 12 months, this prediction will remain far from reality.

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