What was Birmingham City owner Tom Wagner doing before he joined the Blues? | OneFootball

FLW looks at Birmingham City owner, Tom Wagner, and what he was doing before he took ownership of the club.

There has been a lot of noise around Birmingham City over the last few months.

At the end of last season, the Blues suffered a shock relegation from the Championship, which now sees them playing their football in the English third tier for the first time in 30 years.

It was frankly a crazy summer transfer window that had never been seen before in League One, as Birmingham backed their new manager, Chris Davies, and went out and spent millions of pounds on a squad that is more than capable of winning the league and returning to the Championship.

Namely, former loanee, Jay Stansfield signed on a permanent deal from Fulham for a breathtaking fee of over £15 million, which had never been seen before at this level.

That signing had everyone talking, but he will be determined to prove his worth after having such a heavy price tag placed on him.

As expected, Birmingham are challenging at the top end of the table, along with Wrexham, who are owned by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. The Blues and the Red Dragons met last Monday in a highly talked-about encounter, with Birmingham winning the game 3-1.

The Blues have evidently had a lot of money at their disposal, and that is largely thanks to American businessman Tom Wagner, who is the current owner of the club.

Tom Wagner took control of the club last summer

Birmingham City were formerly a Chinese-owned club, but in July 2023, it was confirmed that a takeover had taken place. Tom Wagner took 45.64% ownership of the club on behalf of his company, Shelby Companies Limited.

On top of that, Wagner took full ownership of St Andrew's Stadium, which holds a capacity of 29,409. The businessman went about making some changes at the club almost instantly, bringing in former Manchester City CEO Garry Cooke, to take on that CEO role at St Andrews.

Additionally, NFL legend, Tom Brady became a minority owner of the club as well as Chairman of the Board in August of last year. It was exciting times for Birmingham, but unfortunately, the first season in the new era could not have gone worse.

The Blues suffered relegation from the Championship, but that did not alter Wagner's ambitions. He released a statement to Birmingham City fans that read:

"Our dedication to the betterment of this wonderful club transcends this unfortunate outcome, anchoring us firmly in our continued ambition for what is to come."

"This off-season we will have an opportunity to provide the necessary resources in order to achieve what this club and passionate community deserve. As we chart a course forward, fuelled by your passion and support, rest assured that our plans for the uplifting transformation of the Blues remain steadfastly in place."

What did Wagner do before taking ownership of Birmingham?

Having been in the distressed and high yield business for many years, Tom Wagner co-founded Knighthead Capital Management in 2008. The business, according to its website, is a New-York based firm that focuses on long-short investments.

Shelby Companies is a UK subsidiary of Knighthead Capital Management, and is named after the Shelby family featured in the Birmingham-based crime drama, Peaky Blinders. It is Shelby Companies, owned by Wagner, that completed the takeover of Birmingham City last summer.

Prior to founding Knighthead, the businessman completed his undergraduate studies at Villanova University in 1992 and earned a degree in accounting. In 1999, he graduated Beta Gamma Sigma from Columbia Business School.