Football League World
·21 September 2024
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·21 September 2024
We take a look at how Attanasio's net worth compares to Premier League owners, with Newcastle United sitting at the top of the top-tier tree.
Norwich City recently had some significant takeover news, with Mark Attanasio set to increase his stake at Carrow Road from next year.
Attanasio, who leads the Norfolk FB Holdings group, is set to increase his stake to around 85%.
Currently, he only has a 40.4% stake, the same percentage owned by Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn Jones.
However, Smith and Wynn Jones have come to an agreement to cut their stake in the club to 10%, with the pair set to hold that lower percentage from March 2025, subject to ratification from the club's shareholders and board.
That will mark the start of a new era for the Canaries, who have had off-field stability during the pair's time as significant stakeholders.
They may have been classed as a yo-yo team in recent years, but they have enjoyed some memorable times in both the Premier League and the Championship and fans will be grateful for their contributions to the cause.
Attanasio, meanwhile, will be preparing for life as a majority shareholder at Carrow Road.
Having been on the board since 2022, he has already been able to get to grips with the Norfolk outfit and that should give him an advantage as he prepares to take on this bigger role.
He now has the task of turning the Canaries into a side that can win promotion again, having fallen short at the penultimate hurdle at the end of last term.
Although they finished in the top six at the end of last season, they were the clear outsiders to secure promotion, and their heavy defeat against Leeds United in the play-off semi-final second leg reinforced that.
It has been reported by Front Office Sports that Attanasio has an estimated net worth of around $700m - and this is a figure that has been reported by numerous sources.
This figure is no surprise, considering he currently owns the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. They compete in Major League Baseball.
A report in 2012 noted how much the Brewers have grown in terms of their value - and that should allow the current Norwich shareholder to sell the baseball team for a profit if or when he decides to cash in.
It remains to be seen how much he will invest at Carrow Road, but he certainly seems to have the wealth to ensure Norwich remain in a stable off-field position.
Only two owners in the Premier League are reported to have a lower net worth than Attanasio at this point.
Brentford's Matthew Benham is reportedly worth £216.3m, as of July, and Nottingham Forest's Evangelos Marinakis is claimed to be worth £479m.
The latter's figure may come as a surprise to some people, considering he owns both Forest and Greek giants Olympiacos.
All other owners and consortiums in the English top flight are worth £1bn or more, with Newcastle United unsurprisingly at the top of the tree with more than £400bn.
That's an incredible amount of money, but considering the wealth of their owners, it doesn't come as a major surprise.
If Norwich do win promotion to the top tier under Attanasio, the wealth of the current richest owners reinforces just how much of a challenge it will be to compete in games with the big boys.
And they may find it difficult to remain afloat at the top level, though that depends on how well he runs the club and how much money he has to spend.
The Bees and Benham have shown that you can get to the top tier and stay there with a fairly low net worth.