Manchester United Football Club has been on the radar of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani for the past 12 months, according to the newspaper.The Financial TimesQuoting an unidentified insider.
A Qatari alliance led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani announced last week that it had submitted an offer to fully acquire Manchester United.
In its statement last week, the coalition did not announce the value of the offer to buy the “Red Devils”, but the British newspaper estimated the Qatari offer at $4.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the 40-year-old Gulf prince has not revealed how he will finance the purchase of the English club, which might become the biggest sale for a sports club, he is building on the vast wealth of his father.
People familiar with the matter said that the financing of the “Manchester United” bid had nothing to do with the Qatari state.
European Football Association regulations prevent one party owning more than one club in the old continent, which makes this necessary given the control of the wealthy Gulf emirate over the French capital club, Paris Saint-Germain.
“I don’t necessarily see this as a Qatari offer,” said Gerd Nonneman, professor of international relations at Georgetown University in Doha. “I think a lot of what a son owns depends on his father’s wealth.”
Who is Jassim bin Hamad?
Jassim is the second son of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, who was Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister until 2013. He also held the position of chairing the Gulf emirate’s sovereign fund known as the Qatar Investment Authority.
Forbes estimates Hamad bin Jassim’s wealth at more than $1.3 billion, but the Financial Times says that people in Doha valued his wealth at twice that number, as he led foreign investment for Qatar, and was called “the man who bought London” following his contribution to the purchase of Harrods. famous in the British capital.
However, his son, who is the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, remains largely unknown.
Among his portfolio of positions, Sheikh Jassim heads QInvest, an investment bank established in 2007, in addition to managing Al Mirqab Capital, the family’s investment portfolio.
In his statement last week, Jassim bin Hamad said his vision is to return the club to its “former glories” through “sustainable investment” in its players and infrastructure through a newly created entity called the “Nine Two Foundation”.
Sheikh Jassim, a graduate of the Sandhurst Military Academy in the United Kingdom, was only 28 years old when he joined the board of directors of Credit Suisse in 2010, where he was assigned to represent Qatari interests following investors from the Gulf emirate pumped billions into the Swiss bank. .
“One thing I do remember is that he was a fairly quiet guy,” said one of his former colleagues, while another who attended meetings added, “I don’t remember him talking at all.”
One of the bankers told the “Financial Times” that he “cannot be at the same level as his father, who is considered a giant in money and power.”
Although the banker described him as “less open”, he said that Sheikh Jassim learned from “one of the most intelligent investors”, referring to his father.
