Bezos deal would increase Liverpool's existing US links
· Yahoo Sports
The fourth-richest man in the world is trying to buy a stake in your club. Surely that has to be good news?
Yet Liverpool fans, who still bear the scars of the Tom Hicks and George Gillette era, are viewing the potential high-profile investment cautiously.
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The man in question is billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is part of a consortium that is in advanced talks to buy a 30% stake in the club.
Bezos, according to Forbes, has a personal fortune of about $257bn (£190bn).
To put that into context, last year Liverpool announced record revenues of £703m - but Bezos is worth 270 times that.
Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon five years ago but remains one of the company's biggest shareholders.
He also owns aerospace company Blue Origin, venture capital firm Nash Holdings and the Washington Post. More recently he created Prometheus, an artificial intelligence company which last month invested £330m in a British AI start-up.
As if to underline the scale of his financial resources, only last week he filed to sell 15 million of his remaining Amazon shares with a market value of about £3.1bn - double the value of the consortium's offer for a stake in Liverpool.
Bezos has been linked with sports investment for some time, but usually American sports franchises which are either more expensive or not open to offers.
He was reportedly interested in the Seattle Seahawks, who were sold for £7.3bn, external recently. The Washington Commanders, another NFL franchise said to be of interest, were sold for £4.6bn in 2023.
Buying a stake in Liverpool would give the 62-year-old a slice of one of the most iconic global sports brands for a small fraction of his fortune.
But would Liverpool be a status symbol or a true investment?
It is not as if Liverpool are unknown in the United States, either. Research company GWI has reported that Liverpool have 26 million supporters in the US, and the fastest-growing fan base.
It is no surprise, then, that the Reds had their pre-season tour in the States.
The deal would continue a theme of US investment into the Premier League, with 11 of the 20 teams this season having majority control from America - Liverpool included.