Another billionaire has reportedly tried to get their hands on a stake in an NRL club.
It was revealed on Monday that Aussie tech billionaire and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes had purchased a stake in South Sydney, but according to reports he isn’t the only one who was interested.
Speaking on SEN 1170 Breakfast, The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis revealed that an unnamed English billionaire contacted Peter V’Landys in an attempt to join the ownership stakes of any available club.
“Someone, a firm or an agent reached out to Peter V’Landys on behalf of an English billionaire who said they were keen on buying a stake in an NRL club,” Carayannis said.
“V’Landys picked up the phone and rang a few clubs, he mentioned that he rang Manly and Scott Penn said, ‘Well why would I want to sell now? There’s light at the end of the tunnel’.
“But you would have thought some club could have squeezed anything out of them, something, anything.
“But no, there’s apparently not even a stake of a club up for sale at the moment.”
While rugby league clubs are now turning a yearly profit, Carayannis was asked whether an owner like Russell Crowe would have made money from his purchase of South Sydney dating back to 2006.
“It’s a negative, particularly all of those years back when he started contributing to the club,” Carayannis explained.
“Before he was an owner, you’ve got to think about the donations he was giving.
“But I think you’ll find in maybe the last couple of years they might have gone into the green a little bit.
“Although it’d still be well below what he’s invested into the club.”
The reported English billionaire was knocked back by all NRL clubs some eight or nine months ago according to a report in The Telegraph.