A quick Arsenal share update. I was prompted to do this today by the fact that there are updated figures on Arsenal.com, and for the first time since 20 December the number of shares officially held by Alisher Usmanov has gone up – in this case by eight, from 18,637 to 18,645.
To recap the situation:
- there are 62,217 Arsenal shares
- the current price per share is around £16,000
- Stan Kroenke, through Kroenke Sports Enterprises, owns 41,581 shares, or 66.83%
- Alisher Usmanov, through Red & White Holdings and in partnership with Farhad Moshiri, owns 18,645, or 29.96%
- Usmanov needs 21 more shares to get to 18,666, or 30%
So Stan has a majority and can do much as he pleases, including appointing whoever he likes to the Board. No one else on the Board owns any shares now, having sold them to Stan. In fact, as far as I am aware, no other Arsenal employee is a shareholder any more. There is a ‘Liam Brady’ on the share register, but (assuming he’s not scamming me) he’s read this piece and he assures me he is not the Liam Brady (he tweets as @liamBMT if you want to check him out. Dodgy profile picture, but if he’s really the owner of an Arsenal share, he can’t be all bad, can he?).
This is a unique point in Arsenal’s history, where the club is controlled by a single person and no one else there has any owning interest whatsoever.
Leaving Stan out (he’s never around anyway), Piers Morgan has more shares than the Arsenal Board!
Darren Dein, the agent instrumental in moving several Arsenal players away from the club, has more shares than the Arsenal Board!
Strange situation.
Meanwhile Alisher Usmanov continues to buy shares in small numbers. Why?
Until last summer he hoped that by getting to 30 per cent he could force the club to share all its financial information with him if he got to 30 per cent and was considered an ‘owner’ under Premier League rules. But the Premier League changed the rules, so why does he keep buying shares? It’s not because he can then make a full takeover bid, because a) he can do that anytime he likes, as could anyone, regardless of shareholding, and b) he won’t be forced to make a bid at 30 per cent because it’s at the discretion of the Takeover Panel and they won’t enforce that when there is already a majority owner in place.
So, possible reasons for carrying on buying:
- He wants to get to 30 per cent and then mount a legal challenge to get the right to look at all the books anyway, regardless of the PL rule change.
- He wants 30 per cent purely for the symbolic notion that it sounds bigger than 29 per cent (or even 29.96)
- He’s got this far and just thinks, sod it, it’s small change anyway, might as well carry on to my original target.
- He’s just doing it to distract from some other activity. What other activity? The logical answer to that is a deal with Stan to buy the lot.
I don’t for one minute think Usmanov will make a move during the season, because he’ll be accused by everyone of destabilising the club and distracting it from the (fourth place) trophy chase. So I think whatever happens – if anything happens – will happen in June.
By then Usmanov will have sufficient shares lined up to take him past 30 per cent, if he doesn’t already. Then he can decide whether to stick on 30 per cent and agitate to be given Board representation, access to books, etc, or he can make a deal with Stan to purchase Stan’s 66 per cent. Or both.
Perhaps he already has a deal with Stan. Stan’s never sold a share in a sports club, but that doesn’t mean he never will.
One thing is certain: Usmanov is still buying shares and hasn’t given up the idea of owning Arsenal. Is he prepared to pay over the odds if Stan pushes it? Is he prepared to wait as long as Stan will wait? Find out in June.
But if you think it would be a great idea to get rid of Kroenke and replace him with Usmanov, you need to remember:
- it’s easy for Usmanov to make promises when he’s not the owner, just like opposition political parties do
- no one know Usmanov’s real motives for owning Arsenal, we can only guess
- no one in Arsenal history has ever owned 66 per cent before; if a single person owns 100 per cent the club becomes their toy, and the Arsenal tradition of plurality is gone (we’ve already lost ‘custodianship’ from the Board)
I’m not saying Usmanov would be necessarily bad for Arsenal, whatever his reputation. I’m just saying it would be unfortunate to find out he is when he owns everything.
angryofislington 
Sorry but anything is better than the losers mentality our current board have. This 4th place trophy bollocks makes me want to scream. We want usmanov
Owners like the ones that ended up owning Rangers 4th tier of Scottish football,Birmingham,Leeds utd portsmouth. So the grass is not always greener.
Rangers weren’t owned by someone with the wealth and investment skillset of Usmanov .. your not comparing apples and apples
rangers were owned by people who didn’t have enough money usmanov is the 28 richest man in the world only city would have more money so comparing teams like that is stupid leeds and portsmouth spent money they don’t have if usmanov took over we would be like chelsea but with just double the amount of money
“Daniel kelly” – you rant about Usmanov’s riches. But this is meaningless, as he demanded that Arsenal PAY HIM a divident. Not surprising as his riches come from “privatization” also known as robbing the many poor for the benefit of the few already rich.
Documented here:
http://www.arsenaltrust.org/news/2007/ast-challenges-red-and-white-over-dividend-policy
“…Now Arsenal Supporters’ Trust have called on the club to resist Usmanov and described as “appalling” the businessman’s desire to pay out a dividend to shareholders….”
“Anything is better” – are you kidding? That’s the sort of blind madness that has preceeded every case of people getting suckered in history. Get yourself together, man.
The article says “..no one know Usmanov’s real motives for owning Arsenal, we can only guess…” ? To this I say no – we know exactly what Ghengis’s motive is: M-O-N-E-Y. It’s only in fan blogs and newspaper back pages that anyone continues to indulge in the bizarre fantasy that football is anything other than a business to the people who control it.
Usmanov has made and continues to make so much money outside football that the time and effort he’s spending on Arsenal can’t possibly be worth it for money alone. He has no possible need for any more money anyway. If he makes some, so be it, but there’s more to it than that.
To massage his own ego? So he can compare toys with the other oligarchs?
your just brainwashed by the current board who is looting the club. A goal of 4th places while the board fattens it pockets with a owner who doesn’t give a shit and you are supporting that? Usmanov doesn’t need the money and the financial fair play is in place. He’s a fan and would bring glory back to Arsenal so you’d be really dumb for wanting the current set up that is milking our club as a player generator which is giving the paying fans a big f u
One effect is to stop Arsenal Fanshare from acquiring any more shares.
It’s certainly making it difficult.
Fanshare are blowhards. The club costs a billion pounds and they dont have it!
Nothing is stopping anyone from acquiring share – except money. Usmanov and Kroenke are businessmen. You offer them enough money the share are yours. Oh, wait – you cant afford it? No shiggeddy, Sherlock.
Spare us the nonsense about the fans – the fans cannot afford to buy the club or control it. And if they did manage to scrape together the billion, you can bet they would damn sure care about breaking even!!
If Silent(useless)Stan could make a significant profit, he would in a shot and sell to Usamanov. Usamanov also knows this, but really only wants to be majority shareholder so biuys whatever he can until all he can get his hands on are 21% that he needs of Kroenke. Probably at £20k a share for Stan to sell.
Stan is never going to sell a portion of his shares and become a minority shareholder. He’ll sell all his shares or none.
I wish Usmanov would sell to the fanshare scheme instead of maintaining this crazy ownership situation. At least then we’d know for sure that it would never be Stan’s 100%.
Why? Did Dein and Fisman sell to Fanshare or AST? Why indulge in fantasy? None of them give a fork.
all the sports clubs stan ‘owns’ become failures so, with wenger, the russian would easily be more successful
Genghis Kahn has never owned as ports club in his life. dodgy privatisation skills not relevant here. and for what it’s worth, he is not from London – meaning he has a Colin in his hometown and they have received f-all charity from him.
Spare us the tooth fairy stories please.
We absolutely do NOT want Usmanov. Never, never, never.
The club must retain its soul. The club needs to be there for my children. End of.
And the club hasn’t sold it’s soul to a greedy American who is milking the club? Fool.
To be accurate Kroenke is not “milking” the club – he bought the majority control of the shares and he is letting it run itself.
In contras Usmanov paid 75 Million for shares that David Dein originally bought for 290,000 – then immediately demanded that Arsenal start pay the bill by giving him a dividend.
If this is what Ghengis Khan did after buying 20 percent of the club, then you will REALLY find out what “milking” is if he actually controls the club!
Only a fool would be believe this guy is some sort of philanthroopist. Hell he has a hometown club wherever he is from (hint: its not Higbury & Islington) and I have never heard of him buying a single player for them or them winning anything.
But he is oh just waiting to drain money all over Arsenal? Jesus, how gullible can people be?
I am not from the UK and my hometown has got a football club,but the only football club I’ve ever dreamed of spending money on if I could ever afford it, is the Arsenal,does that make me evil?
you sound stupid. One owner doesn’t give a shit about the club and another is a huge fan. The board is telling you Usmanov is bad therefore you are jumping on that bandwagon. Look at what the current board is doing and tell yourself who the bad person really is
@Ziontrain
They’re rumours. Usmanov never demanded dividends.
Why would Usmanov be after a few million pounds worth of dividends which are like pocket money to him? He is the 25th richest person in the world according to Forbes, he spent £350m on a private boat and jet and you think he’ll be after a measly £2m dividend?
And you think Kroenke isn’t milking the club? Then why has all our world class players and captains been sold? Where are the correct replacements? Why is there over £110m stashed in the bank and not being spent on improving the squad? It will take Kroenke less than an hour to transfer that £110m to his personal bank account.
Also how do we know Kroenke won’t take out a loan over Arsenal if he was to purchase Usmanov’s 30%?
Some of you AKB fans are so gullible, only reason you’re supporting and sticking up for Kroenke is because you know Wenger’s job is safe with Kroenke where as Usmanov would not allow a manager to go 8 years trophy less at a BIG club like Arsenal.
Usmanov will be tha next Abrahamovic and brings trophies bak to Emirates. God knows the best.
Did Abramovic demand that Chelsea pay a dividend to him? Because that’s what Abramovic did after forking over 75 million pounds to David Dein – he demanded that Arsenal fund the purchase by paying a dividend!
Some of you have no idea what is going on. Any old charlatan can run around claiming he is father christmas and you believe him!!
Stan Kroenke sits on the Arsenal board so how can Piers Morgan and Liam Brady and Darren Dein combined have more shares than the Arsenal board ????
As for no one in history owning more than 66% of Arsenal shares try looking up Henry Norris. It’s not a unique point at all.
You should read more carefully, mate. I said if you leave Kroenke aside, the rest have no shares.
Secondly, Henry Norris never owned a majority of Arsenal. Seemingly you know nothing about either the present or the past. How are you on the future?
You need to read more carefully mate. It is only the Arsenal board when it’s complete so the frivolous point about the insignificant shareholdings of Morgan, Dein and Brady can only be made about PART of the board not THE board. Which is no more pedantic than your own distortion.
“In 1910, Norris became the majority shareholder of the ailing Woolwich Arsenal (after the club had gone into voluntary liquidation) while still retaining his post on the Fulham board, and became club chairman two years later.” Seem you know as much about the history as you know about the future. Not too much
You’ve put a quote in without even saying where it came from! I can assure you Norris was never a majority shareholder. In fact he specifically avoided becoming one, though he could have quite easily. I have all the figures of his shareholdings from 1910 onwards. In 1910, the year your erroneous quote refers to, Norris had 240 shares out of 1,000 in issue. Norris worked in partnership with William Hall, who always owned as many shares as Norris did, and other people always owned some as well, so it was never possible for Norris to have a majority.
Seems you trust any old rubbish you read instead of going to source for your facts.
Stan has been making things very, very defficult for Arsenal and the fans, a top high rated club like Arsenal is still lacking behind of champions league, it’s terrible. I think he should give it up to usmo.
“Stan has been making things very, very defficult for Arsenal and the fans…”
No, it really didnt have anything to do with Chelsea and Man City spending a billion each, did it. Oh no, it was Stan.
No offense but this is just low grade logic.
What puzzles me is why two extremely wealthy men seem to be locked in a “phony” war over a club whose cash value would’nt amount to a hill of beans in their world. The management style that Stan Kroenke employs often generates a sense of foreboding among fans because we don’t know what he is going to do for the club. Then you have Usmanovs “Red and White Holdings” sniffing around the edges buying up what ever shares they can find. To what end ? Whats on his agenda ? Then you have the Dein family . David a die hard life long gunner who attends every home game he can while his son Darren has been instrumental in moving on some of our best players to some of our biggest opponents. What are we to make of all this intrigue ? Buggered if I know .
Bizarre that you mention Dein in the same breath as wondering why these men care about buying Arsenal. In fact this was the exact same thing Hill-Wood said when a sugar trader called David Dein turned up wanting to buy his shares.
I think in the end Dein spent 290,000 on buying his stake in Arsenal.Dein later sold those shares to Ghengis Khan for seventy five MILLION pounds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dein
And here we are again in a new cycle with Arsenal fans sitting around wondering why rich men are buying and selling THEM for hundreds of millions of pounds, instead of simply handing over the shares to AST for free. Or better yet, holding on to the shares and letting the fans own nothing but control transfer policy, ticking pricing and everything else.
Even more hilarious is the knee-jerk sainting of David Dein, a man who stood before a seventy five billion share gain and was such a “life long Gooner” that he gave not a single share over to the Arsenal fans after making all that money on their back. Nor did he make any attempt at all to restructure the club in any way to give customers (what you call “fans”) more input or a clearer voice. He even viewed Arsenal as an open till and let his son take pocket money out basically any time the kid wished – said money whitewashed as “agents fees” made on negotiating contracts for Arsenal players…with the board his Dad was on. Ever wonder what happened to Arsenal players who declined to turn up at the negotiating table with Darren Dein. Well, I guess here two phrases should do: 1) “Ashely Cole” and 2)”No we wont give you 5000 quid more per week. Effff off and go to Chelsea – we’ll even give you cab fare”
But yeah, lets go on pretending Dein is a “devoted fan” and not just another money-grubber.
I mean there is a time in life when it is okay to be naive enough to believe in the tooth fairy, and people even think it is cute – but Arsenal fans are all adults. Or at least I thought so…
whatever he is dein cannot be accussed of being lack lusture in the world of football business. he has many top contacts and you just have to look at what he has on his cv. he knows how to bring success while the current board just keep quite when wenger gets all the blame from the fans
it’s like picking politicians. They all take too much so you are picking the one least detrimental. Dein has that presence and the contacts which will make a player like Van Persie go ok, I will stay. When they talk to Ivan they go who the f are you. You think Ivan is taking any less than Dein did? If your picking between the two I would say go with the side that 1. is a fan 2. has a track record of success over the other. Choice is obvious.
Dein could get players big sponsorship deals and etc to help make up for any downfall in wages the club wanted to save on … he had many tricks to getting players to stay …. we need his presence because he doesn’t settle for second best
why is everyond against usmanov? who knew what stan’s intensions were b4 takeover? or because he is american then all he does is ok. Mybe many of u are hillwood fans, so u enjoy the 4th place trophy we’ve been playing for for the past 7 season. i believe in change,And “NEW BROOMS SWEF CLEAN”. THATS WHAT WE REALLY NEED.
Presumably you are the type that would have gladly supported the Russian revolution – I mean who cares whether Stalin comes in – change is good, isnt it? New brooms sweep clean”.
stan would be as well to sell now, because come may when Arsenal are no longer dining at the top table of the champions league, his shares will be worth significantly less, also the recent deal signed with Emirates also reduces in value each season if we are not in the CL. its time for change at Arsenal the club has stagnated, it needs change starting with usmanov and the a change to wengers pathetic socialist wage structure imo.
So you can see into the future you moron and predict all sorts of things, like us not getting into the top 4 and subsequently no CL place, then Usmanov taking over and ¨saving¨ Arsenal? Go back to LeGrove website, there are lots of idiots like you there…you’ll feel at home.
regardless of if we make the top 4, why are we in this position to begin with where we are playing with fire and hoping to squeek in? There’s bigger problems with the current retards in charge. When you walk a thin line for so long your eventually going to fall.
Usmanov wants to keep the pressure on Kronke by being on the fans’ side against the board’s profit taking. And he already has a shareholding which allows him to block some major corporate decisions, including changes to the share capital, so it’s likely that at some point Kronke will need to engage with him.
The current situation isn’t really sustainable. Perhaps Kronke will reach a point where he’s getting flak that he’s not used to and doesn’t like for being the owner and, knowing that he has an easy and profitable exit, decide to sell. Or otherwise, buy out Usmanov, or cut a deal to bring him in as an equal partner, at the high market price that these purchases maintain.
Your lie: “….Usmanov wants to keep the pressure on Kronke by being on the fans’ side against the board’s profit taking. …”
The Facts:
– The second Usmanov bough Dein’s shares, he demanded that the board pay him a dividend.
– The board told him to f-off
– The board has not taken a penny in dividends from the club
Who is the “profit taker” then? Clearly it is Usmanov.
Do you think people are THAT stupid to simply swallow your blatant lies on behalf of the a known soviet union privatization crook?
Erm, they’re not my “blatant lies” … I was suggesting an answer to the question in the post, not promoting anyone’s bid. As others have noted, shareholders generally buy shares because they want to make money. No shit.
There is one difference worth mentioning though – for the likes of Abramovich the publicity gained from owning major football clubs makes them household names. And this gives them (and their wealth) significant political risk protection. In contrast, this is not a factor for the American owners, who are more commercially driven. If it becomes a battle of wills, this may be the crucial factor.
Are u forgetting that a certain David Dein is with Usmanov?! I rly think an owner like Stan is not good for us or any other football club! On the other hand I see that the Usmanov situation is a win-win.. we get Mr Arsenal (Dein) – according to king henry – back and an owner who’s wealth is big! but rly Dein return is more important to me than any other!
Henry said NOTHING about Dein. Usmanov CLAIMED Henry liked him – and we all note that Henry said NOTHING to confirm that. Which tells you call considering the press surely must have been banging on his doot to get a quote.
You’re engaging in blatant propaganda. Lying actually. What are you – one of Usmanov’s paid shills.
Its a fact that he has a PR agency who empoys people to go on blogs and spread lies. Shame on you.
I think you got some lightning up your ass you cretin.
It is time for a positive.
A club such as ours should never be run by someone with such a “shady” background that once again this blog has refused to acknowledge. Arsenal should never be a rich mans toy nor a vehicle to give a crook some kind of political legitimacy in my opinion.
Hear, hear!
Ziontrain…its people like you who accept mediocrity. I want glory. Football has changed. If it requires a ridiculously rich man to do it then so be it. Arsenal have been left behind and I am embarrased when our manager and board say we have been successful in finishing in top 4. Its not success. 1st is success, 2nd is the first loser. We cant win all the time, but we should strive to win.
“Ridiculously rich” men do not get that way by giving their money away. They get rich by plundering vulnerable assets and exploiting suckers: in this case AFC and its fans. Usmanov is not an Abramovic. He is most likely here to do what LIverpool’s previous owners attempted to do. Only an idiot would welcome him.
I dont “accept” mediocrity – I merely understand that someone else put up the better part of a billion pounds to buy the club and I didnt. THAT’s what has changed about football
I wonder what you have to say about Man City and Chelsea who have spend more than a billion combined and are like 10-12 points behind and totally out of the title race in February!
I would suggest a reason that you haven’t put forward yet Phil, which is that it’s one way to launder money. Of course there are plenty of other ways in which he does it, but the UK is a much more certain and well-regulated business environment than Russia.
I think at some stage he will make Stan an offer. I don’t think this buying strategy is a distraction from that, but rather a tactic to keep the share value up in order to provide Stan with maximum temptation.
I hope I’m dead before it happens is all I can say.
The problem with the detail of your theory is that Usmanov is most insistent that he’s not paying more than £14k per share, even when the ‘market price’ was at £17k. I agree he will make an offer, if he hasn’t already. He can tempt Stan with as much or as little as he wants, irrespective of the current market price, which is all a bit artificial anyway now that the market is so small.
Laundering money? Well obviously I wouldn’t suggest that as anyone’s motive, though I’m not saying it’s not hypothetically possible. But you could buy any British company for that with a lot less effort. It would be a side issue for anyone considering purchasing Arsenal, I feel.
Unless you are feeling particularly unwell today (hope not!) then something will change before you die, I’m sure.
Usmanov has already laundered what dirty cash he had in the legit businesses he acquired not so legitimately. I wouldn’t fear that Arsenal be used for this purpose. But owning the biggest club in London would certainly add to his false image as this modern day goody goody oligarch and give him more clout politically in the corridors of power in Moscow.
The club is now owned by a rich failure.
You moronic twit cretin…..a rich failure is an oxymoron but you are just a moron!
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Usmamovic is the only person who can take Arsenal to the best leval.Stan is not series whith football his a joker
It says a lot that many of Usmanov’s backers struggle to spell his name correctly.
That’s not surprising. We are talking about grown adults who believe that Father Christmas exists – and that he is from Uzbekistan no less. Not exactly likely to be anywhere but the bottom of the educational pile with those sort of ideas in their head.
Tell Alisher to learn u some spellin mate!
I always thought that The City (London) set the rules on ownership of a company. I would have thought The Russian could challenge any rule set by the Prem concerning ownership. Why are they running by their own set of rules? By the way, I don’t have a clue if this is right or not.
The PL rules are in addition to normal company law, and as you allude, the PL can’t override anything, nor can anyone challenge what company law dictates. Where there is leeway is in Takeover Panel rules – which are mostly guidelines, given the panel can make decisions to suit individual cases – and where the PL classifies shareholders as ‘owners’ or ‘directors’ for various purposes, even if they hold no official position at a club. The PL tidied this up last summer, though, so there is less ambiguity than there was.
Stan continue fighting u’ll one day win the battle.
Lets face it, Kroenke has absolutely no desire whatsoever in on field success ie silverware, and in my opinion there is absolutely nothing to suggest himself striving towards a need for winning. Usmanov will obviously want a financial gain, nothing wrong with that, i believe there are big differences between eachothers means for financial rewards. Kroenke obviously gains through not investing any further taking in ticket, merchandise monies also the advertising and television monies to basically cover everything including himself, whereas im sure that Usmanov will certainly take some needed risks in seeing that a winning team brings in allot more fans, big game matches, and advertising monies etc. I believe financially that the only way we will ever rival manu will be to create winning teams and as a club to get a winning mentality, under Kroenke this will be a monumental task… thank god we have Wenger.
Usmanov’s motives for wanting to own AFC are enigmatic to say the least but:
1)Phil is right in saying it isn’t for the money, he makes more in a single day than he could in a year with AFC,
2)He does want to make a profit on his shares as Ziontrain repeatedly points out, but that’s business,
3) He may want to own a Football Club as that is the ¨in¨ thing nowadays for billionaires.
4) Those moronic cretinous brain-dead posters who whine for Usmanov to take over had better do their homework before continuing their idiotic rants. He is a nefarious character and a little research on his activities in Russia and England will quickly confirm his character, or lack of it.
5) Kroenke is a hands-off owner, and has not taken a cent out of AFC as yet, he may in the future. The Board do not take dividends so they aren’t the ogres everyone pretends they are.
6) Whjat is clear is that the AST won’t be getting any more AFC shares in the near future.
One thing that does worry, Usmanov is a heart attack waiting to happen. What happens ‘if’ he does takeover, then snuff’s it a couple of years later? Does a family member take over (North Korea comes to mind) or are we left in the shit? (same difference!) I know this could also happen to the Yank, but my money’s on the Russian to go first
Maybe he’s trying to mop up as many shares as he can so that when he finally makes an offer, the premium he has to pay is applied to a smaller number of shares. Stan + Ali together own ~97%. If he offers a 20% premium on the shares to buy the club, the remaining 3% not owned by him and Stan would cost him an additional 5m quid….actually forget it…he makes that in interest per day. Carry on!
Whatever Usmanov’s motives, buying Arsenal to make money is laughable. He’s one of the richest men in the world and owning it to stick 10,20,30 million in his pocket every year would be like me and you getting an extra 100 quid a year. Let’s be clear on this, he wants Arsenal for prestige, a way into the UK, a pastime etc etc or whatever. It would be an Abramovich style ownership where winning would be the order of the day (i just remember that feeling – just!).
Ziontrain and phil…get real. Usmanov cant make money out of Arsenal. He wants to use his money to make us successful as he is a fan. If I was a billionaire I would do likewise, why not? Its called passion. He has already made his money this would be for joy. Ziontrain, you make me laugh. The Chavs and Plastics might not be able to win this year but you can sure as hell bet that they will be there or thereabouts every season. To those clubs 2nd is failure, which it is. Its tragic that our manager, board and fans like you think finishing in the top 4 is achievment.
Oh please… if you or I were a billionaire ‘fan’ we wouldn’t be messing about with share percentages and ideas about a place on the board.
If I had that kind of money and was interested in buying the league (winning as you say) I’d just hand over £1 billion as a gift, sort out any tax issues and sit back and enjoy the show.
He’s not a ‘fan’, he wants to own the whole lot – for what reasons none of us know.
What I don’t get about R&W supporters is no one seems to have made any comment about Usmanov wanting dividends paid. Unless someone is going to deny this then surely we need to stop this nonsense that he’s a fan. At least then discussions can be had about which billionaire is worse for AFC ( I don’t want either and if I remember correctly the poll on this site about ownership model seemed to suggest most fans felt the same)
“…Ziontrain and phil…get real. Usmanov cant make money out of Arsenal. He wants to use his money to make us successful as he is a fan. If I was a billionaire I would do likewise, why not? Its called passion. He has already made his money this would be for joy…”
This is a lie – the entire premiership is littered with BIllionaires who are using football clubs to make money. The Quatari’s are the only ones who dont care about losing money – and that is because they are sitting on a national oil fund and they run the country. If there is a coup in Quatar tomorrow, its no question the club will be sold and run for money.
Even Abramovic is using Chelsea to try gain access to the land beneath and develop it. That is why he was trying to move the stadium to that power station in Battersea – money. Go and do your research.
Randy Lerner at Aston Villa – runnning the club for money – and they are below Arsenal on the league table. Liverpool – the same same.
Billionaires dont get rich by giving money to poor people – they get rich by taking it from poor suckers.
Drop this garbage about Usmanov not being at Arsenal for money – he DEMANDED that the club pay him a dividend, man. Get a clue for christ sakes.
I can’t believe most of you have no clue. But it is simple, Stan and gang (Walton’s) have maid their money from retail, real state, etc. Usmanov is an Oil Barn, and oil/gas profits are ten time more than retail, real estate….IN EPL today, you have two type of owners (both billionaires), the Oil rich (Chelsea, man city) and the rest. It is obvious that the oil rich owners are the big spenders, they are not like the rest (most Americans) trying to use the system to load up the clubs with debt and use their goodwill to cover up for their other investments (Man u). So for all of you called fans or arsenal fans, don’t worry if Usmanov takes over Arsenal he will never go bankrupt, unlike the retails tycoons whom always live with their means and try to make a buck and leverage the club assets (Liverpool). And on a final note, in this business net profit is not crucial like they keep tell us, profit will be maid in the club future value, just look at united in the last decade. So don’t let them fool you trophies count…..!!!
Utter garbage. Usmanov is rich AND greedy. He demanded dividends ie he aims to take money OUT of the club.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7cce6a7c-7205-11dc-8960-0000779fd2ac.html
October 4, 2007 3:06 am
Arsenal strikes back at Usmanov demands
By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent
Arsenal hit back on Wednesday at Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire metals magnate, saying his demands for an independent board and dividend payments were unacceptable…..
Football club officials were understood..The business partners, who want the board to consider dividend payments, are unhappy about a lock-down agreement signed by board members who hold 45 per cent of the shares……
The Arsenal Supporters Club, which represents minority shareholders and has been in contact with Stan Kroenke – the US sports franchise billionaire who owns 12.2 per cent of the club – was more forthright, saying it supported the club’s no-dividend policy.
“We fully support the current board’s decision to forgo dividends, allowing all surplus monies to be re-invested into the club,” the supporters club said.
“We call upon Red & White to clarify their position. So far Usmanov has paid a lot of money to purchase 23 per cent of Arsenal but he has not put anything into the club itself. It would be appalling if he were to now seek to extract monies.”
“Those moronic cretinous brain-dead posters who whine for Usmanov to take over had better do their homework before continuing their idiotic rants”
So you can’t come up with a decent argument in favour of Kroenke and resort to insults instead?, says it all really. No idea why anyone would want Kroenke over Usmanov, in an ideal world the fans would have a majority share in the club but as it stands I would gladly take the Russian who actually watches football over the absent American who’s other sports ‘franchises’ are widely considered mediocre, if you want Arsenal to join them then you are a very strange sort of supporter, you are basically accepting that we wont compete for either the cl or pl for the foreseable future.
What makes me laugh after reading this entire thread is the minute anything pro Usmanov comes up on line there is always “coincidentally” top class professional critique against the bloke rightly or wrongly I’m not disputing, It strikes me that any passion displayed by bloggers who dont entirely support the current set up is ridiculed somewhat. To me it is embarassing that an honest discussion is hijacked by hidden agendas.
What motivates pro Usmanov opinion isnt that everyone one thinks the grubby Russian with a murky past is the messiah, but just (rightly or wrongly) a desire for the club people love to be doing better than they currently are under people who to give more of a toss about success than the figures stacking up!
Simples……..
Who is this Ziontrain fool who keeps commenting and making up false rumours? Typical AKB and Kroenke fan.
1st of all, Usmanov NEVER demanded dividends, that is a lie made up by Kroenke fans.
Why would Usmanov be after a few million pounds worth of dividends which are like pocket money to him? He is the 25th richest person in the world according to Forbes, he spent £350m on a private boat and jet and you think he’ll be after a measly £2m dividend?
And if Kroenke is such a perfect owner then why are we paying the highest ticket prices in Europe to watch mediocre players? Why has all our world class players and captains been sold? Where are the correct replacements? Why is there over £110m stashed in the bank and not being spent on improving the squad? It will take Kroenke less than an hour to transfer that £110m to his personal bank account.
Also how do we know Kroenke won’t take out a loan over Arsenal if he was to purchase Usmanov’s 30%?
Some of you AKB fans are so gullible, only reason you’re supporting and sticking up for Kroenke is because you know Wenger’s job is safe with Kroenke where as Usmanov would not allow a manager to go 8 years trophy less at a BIG club like Arsenal.
Save the crap for fools. The dividends demand was in the English newspapers, ie a country with the best libel litigation possibilities in the world. Here is for example the Financial Times – the world’s leading business newspaper:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7cce6a7c-7205-11dc-8960-0000779fd2ac.html
October 4, 2007 3:06 am
Arsenal strikes back at Usmanov demands
By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent
Arsenal hit back on Wednesday at Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire metals magnate, saying his demands for an independent board and dividend payments were unacceptable.
Football club officials were understood to be dismayed at Mr Usmanov’s decision to hold a press briefing in Moscow on Tuesday about his 23 per cent stake in Arsenal, and at his tone.
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Mr Usmanov, who owns Metalloinvest and is worth £5bn, paid £120m for his Arsenal stake together with Farhad Moshiri, his business partner, through Red & White Holdings, their investment vehicle.
His briefing was an attempt to prove he was not hostile to the board and not about to launch an aggressive bid. But the strategy appears to have backfired.
Mr Moshiri held a meeting with board members last week, which the club described as constructive. However, club insiders say the board believes progress at that meeting has been undermined by Mr Usmanov’s briefing.
“They feel they have been told one thing, then they read other things coming out of a press briefing,” one insider said.
“Mr Moshiri expressed a view that he wanted to be a friendly long-term investor. The interpretation coming out of Moscow is somewhat different.” The business partners, who want the board to consider dividend payments, are unhappy about a lock-down agreement signed by board members who hold 45 per cent of the shares.
The board members, who include Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, have agreed not to sell shares until April and will probably extend the agreement. But Red & White says such an agreement is incompatible with their status as board directors.
Arsenal insiders said that, in Chips Keswick and Lord Harris, the football club already had independent directors who were non-shareholders.
The Arsenal Supporters Club, which represents minority shareholders and has been in contact with Stan Kroenke – the US sports franchise billionaire who owns 12.2 per cent of the club – was more forthright, saying it supported the club’s no-dividend policy.
“We fully support the current board’s decision to forgo dividends, allowing all surplus monies to be re-invested into the club,” the supporters club said.
“We call upon Red & White to clarify their position. So far Usmanov has paid a lot of money to purchase 23 per cent of Arsenal but he has not put anything into the club itself. It would be appalling if he were to now seek to extract monies.”.
Ziontrain…i hope you enjoy the bus parade showing the 4th place trophy…if we actually win it. Im glad the “self sustaining business model” we seem to hear the board talk so proudly about, has worked for you. Im sure you take as much pride in that as Man U, Chelsea and City do in winning finishing first and competing on the football field
Jamal problem is you are a habitual liar, as I said NONE of the things you claimed.
I did however point out that Usmanov is a charlatan and clearly out to pillage the club. Considering this bothers you so much as to go off on a rampage of personal insults against me, I can only conclude that you part of Ghengis Khan’s PR troops. All fine and well and good, just dont give me any crap about the guy “loving” the club.
Oh here is a good one for you, from the fella’s Wikipedia page:
“] In February 2008, his Metalloinvest also became sponsor of Dinamo Moscow, the Russian capital’s football team.[9][10] His Metalloinvest group’s name replaced the Xerox Corporation’s on its players’ shirts as part of the $7 million deal. “For me, Dinamo is a first love”, said Usmanov, the club’s website reported Usmanov as saying.[11]”
So far the only “love” this man has shown Arsenal FC is to cause stress and demand dividends. I can only imagine how bad it will get when he “hates” Arsenal. *roll eyes*
Ziontrain….you are so sensitive. Personal insults? Mate you need to chill out. Life is good for you, your team is is close to the holy grail of 4th place, a magnificent achievment by your standards. You must love being able to brag about your club to your mates.
Whatever – go find another dodgy bizneezman to shill for.
Usmanov is a gooner and wants to win everything so back him and the glory years will come back to arsenal believe me usmanov is the future he will not let world class players leave us he will buy world class players back the man cos he’s gonna buy arsenal what ever usmanovs the man a top Russian sugar daddy can’t wait kroenkes just init for the money get behind the usmanov and good times will come
Usmanov would never sell to kroenke he loves the club it will be the other way round
Hmmmm don’t understand why all pro R&W commentators think not wanting to sell your soul to Usmanov means you support Kroenke. Don’t think I’ve seen anyone supporting Kroenke in any of these comments.
As much as Ziontrain rants he/she is the only one that seems to have anything resembling an argument. Apart from a few exceptions the bulk of replies seem to be “we must get Usmanov so we can win and if you don’t agree you must love the board and Kroenke”. Pity that’s the only counter argument as this is a really good blog post.
I refer back to the poll on this site (on phone so can’t check). If I remember correctly, most fans didn’t want either owner (especially when we don’t know one of their motives) – that’s the reason for the neg Usmanov comments NOT because we all love SK
You are correct – there was an overwhelming majority vote for ‘no single owner’, with very few wanting either of the major shareholders in sole charge.
I was always very anti Usmanov, but the situation now is that we are gradually slipping down the pecking order with Stan seemingly unconcerned as long as Arsene is careful with the club`s money. At least with Usmanov there will be proper money to buy and pay for the top players. There will also be no standing on reputations or past success, but current results, ie Arsene will have to deliver in future.
Fallacy Alert:
“….At least with Usmanov there will be proper money to buy and pay for the top players..”
Fact:
Usmanov whines about not being on the Arsenal board, insinuating – but carefully never stating – that money will be no object..if only he is given the keys to the till full of other peoples money.
However, Usmanov is in fact on the board of CSKA Moscow, a team which is not threatening to win the champions league any time soon. In fact Usmanov’s team has not even won their own league since 2006! And Usmanov has not shown any ability to open up his wallet to offer unlimited riches for the club – they are outspent by Anzhi, who’s owner is not as rich as Usmanov.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_CSKA_Moscow
No, there is no father Christmas. What’s even worse: when someone dresses up as father christmas these days, if you are a football fan, you’d better keep your hands on your wallet, because he hasnt come to GIVE you any gifts – like the grinch, he’s there to TAKE for himself what little you might have.
Another way of looking at things is how much does the owner pay to watch the game?
For Man City, it’s a billion for a few seasons. For Chelsea, not far off. But for Arsenal major shareholders, everything’s free and you make a packet on the gain when you sell the shares.
And we wonder why we’re paying the highest ticket prices?
Arsenal’s high ticket prices are because the club generally plays attractive football enough that 60,000 people are willing to pay to see it, even when the team isnt winning consistently. Unlike Man City which cant even muster 3,000 fans to see a premiership game at Emirates. Duh….
David Dein sold out to Usmanov and would be his front man if Usmanov made a bid for Arsenal. Yet even Dein goes on the record here today (15th February 2013) saying that Arsenal is currently being run for long term stability and that that is the way it should be! Moreover Dein also says that there is no way Arsenal could compete with the money being spent at Chelsea and Man City, because the owners of those clubs are not rational at all.
He does not mention AST or fan control of the club. He agrees fans would be impatient after the recent glory years, but makes it clear that Wenger really has had no chance against the irrational spenders.
Anyone who watches to this interview and STILL thinks that Usmanov is going to come in and spend money like a drunk sailor – well you’d need to get your head checked. What’s going on at ownership/board level is purely a positioning game to control a money stream.
Watch it for yourself:
http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,,15118_8501076,00.html