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Musk, the world's richest person, said on Tuesday night on
Twitter that he wanted to buy England's most successful club
before clarifying that it was a joke and that he had no interest
in purchasing any sports teams.
The club's owners, the American Glazer family, are under
pressure with United sitting bottom of the Premier League after
two games of the season. Bloomberg reported they would consider
selling a minority stake, opening the door for Ratcliffe.
A source close to Ratcliffe said the billionaire was a potential
buyer as he wants to help rebuild the team. The Times first
reported Ratcliffe's interest on Wednesday.
It is unclear if the interest would result in any deals. The
Glazer family is not ready to concede the controlling stake in
Manchester United and has an expectation of valuing the club at
more than double its current market cap of $2.2 billion, another
source said.
In May 2022, Chelsea Football Club was sold to a consortium led
by an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital
for $3.2 billion (2.5 billion pounds).
The Glazers have been the target of intense criticism for their
failure to invest in the team who have not won a trophy in five
years. United's net debt had grown 11% to about 496 million
pounds ($598 million) by the end of March.
The owners have also been criticised for not improving the Old
Trafford stadium, the biggest club ground in the country with a
capacity of around 75,000 fans.
Ratcliffe, head of chemical company INEOS, is from the
Manchester area and a long-standing United fan.
Ratcliffe failed this year in an attempt to buy London club
Chelsea which was ultimately bought by an investment group led
by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
United finished sixth last season in their worst Premier League
campaign with respect to points earned, failing to qualify for
the lucrative European Champions League.
They won the last of their record 20 top-flight league titles in
2013, the year Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager after more
than 26 years in charge.
The club hired manager Erik ten Hag from Ajax Amsterdam in a bid
to turn around their fortunes but the Dutchman has not yet
succeeded in imposing his playing style, with United losing
their opening two games after conceding six goals.
United play their arch-rivals Liverpool, who scored nine times
without reply in their two league meetings last season, at Old
Trafford on Monday.
Shares of Manchester United jumped 6.96% on Wednesday.
($1 = 0.8294 pounds)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, Simon Evans in London
and Krystal Hu in New York; editing by Ed Osmond)
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