How exactly did Plymouth Argyle's owner Simon Hallett make their cash? | OneFootball

The Pilgrims owner has helped the club climb back up the football pyramid after they fell on tough times

Since becoming majority shareholder of Plymouth Argyle in 2018, Simon Hallett has overseen a period of success as owner of the Pilgrims.

The Devon outfit have risen from the fourth tier to the second in that time, while ploughing plenty of cash into the infrastructure of the football team, with work starting on the brand new Foulston Park training complex in the city.

Having stayed in the Championship by a whisker in the previous campaign, the Greens have pinned their hopes on Miron Muslic to repeat the trick this time around, with the Austrian already working his magic to oversee a 1-0 victory over Premier League leaders Liverpool in the FA Cup Fourth Round earlier in the month.

With plans to make Argyle a competitive top-half Championship club in the future, and eventual Premier League aspirations, Hallett has big dreams for his boyhood side, but how did he come to be in the position to acquire the Home Park side in the first place?

How Plymouth Argyle owner Simon Hallett made his fortune

Born in Bristol, Hallett lived around the south west as well as in London growing up, before moving to Plymouth in 1966.

He then studied at Oxford University in the 1970s, where he did a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics before moving abroad to pursue a career and make the fortune he has in the current day, with one of his early roles being at American company Harding Loevner as Global Equity Portfolio Manager

Having worked his way up through the company, Hallett was soon the Vice President, and spent over 30 years with a business that has over $80 billion in equities, and has stakes in global companies such as PayPal and Facebook.

The Argyle owner also worked at Jardine Fleming Investment Management in Hong Kong prior to his Stateside excursions, while also spending time at Midland Bank.

According to the Money Maze Podcast, Hallett helped Jardine Fleming grow into Hong Kong’s biggest asset manager, before JPMorgan Chase acquired the company in 2000.

Plymouth Argyle owner Simon Hallett’s net worth

Hallett invested £3.25 million into the club he loved back in 2018, which saw him own 64% of the shares, and thus become the majority shareholder of the Pilgrims.

Since then, the Argyle owner has increased his ownership to 87%, as he bought a further 3.3 million shares from outgoing investors Argyle Green LLC in July 2023

With his shrewd business acumen being transferred into a footballing world, the Argyle owner has outlined his goal of helping the club challenge for the Premier League by 2028, which means Muslic will need to do all he can do to keep the club in the second tier during the current campaign, if they are going to remain on track.

Hallett’s net worth is reported to be around the £66 million mark, which is modest in terms of Championship football club owners, but the sustainable approach he has had during his time at Home Park is one to be admired, with the Greens often taking alternative measures to find success rather than splashing money at the obvious choices in the transfer market.

While his pockets are deeper than most, the quest for the top flight is likely to be one he can’t achieve on his own, and as the search for investment into the football club continues, the Greens chief pledged to add his own funds to the transfer kitty this January, which saw the club break their transfer record twice.

Michael Baidoo’s arrival from Elfsborg was the first to top Morgan Whittaker and Bali Mumba’s previous record of £1 million, before Maxi Talovierov’s signing from LASK at £1.7 million is the highest ever in the club’s history.

With the sale of Whittaker for a reported £6 million fee, and Lewis Gibson signing for Preston North End for a reported £1.5 million, Argyle are a side that are doing things the right way right now, and with Muslic at the helm, they could well have a boss capable of getting a side to outperform their means in the best way possible.

The appointment of the Cercle Brugge boss could be another canny choice from the Argyle owner, who has helped the Devon side dare to dream once again, without spending beyond their means.