QPR ownership: A look at their source of wealth + net worth | OneFootball

Queens Park Rangers suffered another tough ride in the Championship in the 2023/24 season, meaning it could be an expensive summer for their ownership team.

The club was formally majority-owned by Malaysian airline owner Tony Fernandes, but he sold his stake in July 2023, citing the need to concentrate on his other business interests.

The Hoops are now owned by a trio of business community, all of whom have a substantial stake in the club.

Here, FLW takes a look at who those in charge at Loftus Road are, and how they made their fortunes...

The three men who jointly own QPR

Since Fernandes stepped aside, the main shareholder of the Hoops is now another Malaysian business person, Ruben Gnanalingam, who came on board at the same time as Fernandes in 2011 in a smaller capacity.

Gnanalingam increased his shareholding to 33% in June 2016, and then again, this time to almost 60%, when Fernandes departed last year.

The second-largest shareholder is US investor Richard Reilly, a relatively recent investor who held 12% at the beginning of last year but now owns 21% of the club.

The trio is rounded off by Amit Bhatia, who joined the board in 2007 as a representative of his father-in-law, Lakshmi Mittal, before taking the position of vice-chairman and later chairman. He now owns just under 20% of the west London club.

How Ruben Gnanalingam, Richard Reilly and Amit Bhatia made their money

Gnanalingam is the heir to the Gnanalingam family fortune, predominately made through their stake in Westports Holdings, one of the primary port operators in the Strait of Malacca, just off the coast of Malaysia.

Westports was co-founded in 1994 by Ruben's father, G. Gnanlingham, who passed away in July 2023, and his business partner Ahmayuddin bin Ahmad. Ruben is now Westports' executive chairman and group managing director.

Reilly, who joined the QPR board as a minority investor in February 2022, founded RBI Solar, which manufactures equipment for renewable energy projects. He also spent time as a financial analyst in the US for both Morgan Stanley and as part of the Bush administration.

Alongside his stake in QPR, Reilly also has interests in both MLS outfit FC Cincinnati and baseball team Cincinnati Reds.

Finally, Bhatia, who stepped down from his position of chairman in November 2023, is a British-Indian businessman who founded Swordfish Investments, a private equity fund, and Swordfish Capital Management, an investment management company.

He is also the son-in-law of Mittal, a steel and mining billionaire who has also been involved in QPR.

Net worth of Ruben Gnanalingam, Richard Reilly and Amit Bhatia

The precise individual net worth of Gnanalingam is hard to ascertain, but he now heads the family who are estimated to be worth a combined £1.26billion, according to Forbes.

It is similarly difficult to put a precise figure on Reilly's fortune, but he was president of Rough Brothers and sister firm RBI Solar when the companies were part of a £102.6million sale in 2015, and his portfolio of sporting interests show he too will be a wealthy individual.

Bhatia follows a similar pattern of not publicly revealing how much he is worth, but a strong indication of the sort of fortune he has access too is via his father-in-law, Mittal, who was ranked in the top 10 wealthiest people in the UK in 2017, with a family fortune estimated to stand at almost £14billion.

Combined, the trio have considerable access to funds and that may come in useful over the summer, as QPR look to recruit some top talent for their advance through the Championship.