Jeff Bezos in talks to buy a stake in Liverpool FC

Jeff Bezos is reportedly attempting to join the growing club of wealthy Americans buying stakes in U.K. soccer teams. Bezos, alongside others including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, is looking to buy at least a 30% stake in Liverpool at a £1.35 billion valuation (around $1.8 billion), according to The Guardian. If the deal closes, it would be Bezos’ first sports investment, though he reportedly previously looked at buying a stake in a U.S. football team.

Liverpool is one of the most recognizable sports teams in Europe and is worth about $6 billion, according to Forbes — brand recognition that, in the U.K., is comparable to the Dallas Cowboys’ standing in the U.S.

Bezos would be joining a growing list of American billionaires who already own stakes in English soccer: Todd Boehly and Mark Walter (who also own the LA Dodgers and LA Lakers) bought Chelsea; New York Jets co-owner and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Woody Johnson bought Crystal Palace; Dan Friedkin took a stake in Everton; and Bill Foley led a group that included Michael B. Jordan in buying Bournemouth. Beyond that ownership tier, celebrities including Ryan Reynolds, Tom Brady, Will Ferrell, Russell Westbrook, and Michael Phelps hold minority stakes across other Premier League and lower-division clubs. A Sky Sports analysis found that 13 of the 20 Premier League clubs have American shareholders.

Soccer has grown more popular in the U.S. in recent years, and many top American sports franchises, like the NFL and MLB, are either too expensive or closed off to new buyers — making a Premier League stake a more attainable entry point. Owning a share in a club also buys access and proximity to some of the sport’s most recognizable figures.

Bezos, whose net worth currently sits at around $280 billion, has increasingly been seen as a cultural figure beyond his tech-industry profile in recent years, particularly since marrying former news anchor Lauren Sánchez. He also has other growing U.K. interests: Amazon has streamed some European soccer leagues in the past, and his AI company Prometheus is reportedly looking to sign a lease in London’s King’s Cross AI hub.

Why it matters

A Bezos-led stake in one of England’s most valuable clubs would extend the wave of American capital reshaping Premier League ownership, and deepen his personal footprint in the U.K. alongside Prometheus’s reported London expansion.