Bristol City ownership: A look at their source of wealth & net worth | OneFootball

Bristol City are a well-established Championship club with Premier League aspirations and much of that has been down to the hefty investment from chairman Steve Lansdown.

The local businessman first got involved with the club back in 1996, before going on to become Chairman in 2002, with investments in matters on and off the field helping them become a second tier staple.

With Ashton Gate being given a makeover in recent years and the football club about to embark on its tenth straight season in the Championship, with a view to challenging for the play-offs under Liam Manning, things are looking bright in the West Country, with much of it down to Lansdown’s backing.

But how did the businessman make his money and how much has he got? Let’s dig a little deeper...

Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown source of wealth, net worth

According to Forbes, Lansdown is said to be worth a whopping $2.6 billion, making him within the top 1500 richest people on Earth at this moment in time.

His current worth puts him on a par with WWE tycoon Vince McMahon, and a fraction above rapper and 24-time Grammy Award winner Jay-Z, which only goes to highlight the wealth he possesses.

Lansdown made his money as one of the major shareholders and co-founder of financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, which he set up in 1981 in Bristol alongside Peter Hargreaves.

With over 40 years in the industry, the business has continued to grow and with it has the City boss’s fortune, with his worth going from $1.8 billion to $2.6 billion since 2015.

Steve Lansdown’s Bristol Sport project sees success across the city

Not only is Lansdown involved with the football club in Bristol but also with rugby and basketball, having got involved with the former back in 2009.

The Bears had just suffered relegation to the second tier of the sport and Lansdown intervened to stop them going out of business. He has since helped rejuvenate them into a strong Premiership side.

The rags-to-riches story was capped off with a maiden European title win in 2020, as they won the European Challenge Cup for the first time in their history.

Speaking in 2016 about the venture, Lansdown said: "My main sporting passion is football and I've been involved with Bristol City now for over 20 years, so yes that's first and foremost.

"The idea of bringing a number of sports together under one banner in Bristol Sport was formulated from that, and is gradually being developed.

"Why am I doing it? I suppose life is full of challenges and this is one of them, to put Bristol sport successfully on the map."

Lansdown’s continued ownership of the club has been put into doubt over recent years, with the owner thinking of his and the club’s long-term future as he looks to take a step back from matters.

He said last year: “We’re talking to somebody but it’s been going on for a while so I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not. I’m in no rush, it’s got to be the right people who come in, they’ve got to add value, they’ve got to have the right funds to come in and do it.

"It’s not a one-off payment it’s an ongoing commitment. At some point I’m not going to be here so at the end of the day we’ve got to find new investment, we’ve got to find new people to take to the club forward and that’s my task over the next few years so the club’s in good hands going forward.”

A number of American consortiums are said to be interested in purchasing City, although no official agreement has been reached to date.

Having seen their co-tenants of Ashton Gate gather success with the oval ball in recent seasons, City will be hoping to emulate them by making it to the Premier League for the first time since 1979/80.