The Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea, a UK Premier League football club. He has invested more than £1B into the Stamford Bridge club since purchasing it in 2003. Abramovich will not be asking the club to repay the loans it owes him. Thus, the long-term future of the club remains secure. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich has handed “stewardship and care” of Chelsea to the club’s charitable foundation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
MPs have called this week that Roman Abramovich should not be allowed to own Chelsea due to his alleged links to Putin’s regime.
Abramovich made his fortune in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In Russia’s controversial loans-for-shares privatization program, he obtained state-owned assets at prices far below market value. Abramovich is a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On 28 Feb 2022, Abramovich was ranked the 141st richest man in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His total net worth is estimated to be around $14B.
