REVEALED: The 8 Richest Football Club Owners in the World in 2018
It takes a certain amount of wealth to control and operate elite sports teams and Forbes has published its list of the 20 richest owners in the world this year.
Cricket team owner Mukesh Ambani is the richest with an estimated net worth of $40.1bn, while numerous NFL and NBA owners also feature on the list.
As far as just football is concerned, here are the eight richest people who currently owns clubs...
8. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha - $5bn
Leicester City, OH Leuven
=19th overall (all sports)
Thai businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha bought Leicester in 2010 and has seen the club return to the top flight, win a fairytale Premier League title and reach the quarter finals of the Champions League during that time.
He added Belgian side OH Leuven to his football portfolio in 2017.
7. Joe Lewis - $5bn
Tottenham Hotspur
=19th overall (all sports)
With chairman Daniel Levy the public decision maker at Spurs, billionaire businessman Joe Lewis, one of the richest people in the UK, is the seldom seen owner. His company bought the majority stake in Tottenham from Alan Sugar in 2001.
Lewis also used to own stakes in Glasgow Rangers and Slavia Prague.
6. Robert Kraft - $6.2bn
New England Revolution
14th overall (all sports)
Robert Kraft has enjoyed much of his sporting prominence in the 21st century as the principal owner of the NFL's New England Patriots after buying the franchise in 1994. But his connection to soccer comes through New England Revolution, a team he founded in 1996.
At one point in late 2005, Kraft was rumoured to be interested in buying Liverpool.
Other team: New England Patriots (NFL)
5. Shahid Khan - $7.2bn
Fulham
12th overall (all sports)
Pakistan-born American businessman Shahid Khan currently presides over two teams on the up. His Jackonsville Jaguars were one game away from reaching SuperBowl LII earlier this year, while Fulham, whom he bought in 2013, are chasing promotion to the Premier League.
Khan made his fortune form selling car parts after moving to America aged 16.
Other team:Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL)
4. Stan Kroenke - $8.3bn
Arsenal, Colorado Rapids
10th overall (all sports)
Unpopular Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has controlled the Gunners since 2011 after starting to buy shares several years earlier and now owns close to 70% of the north London club. He even made a bid to buy the remaining shares owned by Alisher Usmanov in 2017.
Besides football, Kroenke owns professional teams in four other sports.
Other teams: Los Angeles Rams (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Mammoth (NLL)
3. Roman Abramovich - €10.8bn
Chelsea
7th overall (all sports)
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich changed the landscape of English and European football when he bought the debt ridden club in the summer of 2003, instantly transforming them into Premier League and Champions League contenders.
Chelsea have won 14 major honours in the 15 years since Abramovich assumed control, compared to eight in the 98 years of existence prior to the takeover.
2. Philip Anschutz - $13bn
Los Angeles Galaxy
5th overall (all sports)
Kansas-born businessman Philip Anschutz is a hugely important figure in the history of Major League Soccer, having helped to found the league and a number of the original teams. At one point he owned as many as six different clubs.
Anschutz also has a minority stake in world famous NBA francise Los Angeles Lakers.
Other team: Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
1. Dietrich Mateschitz - $23bn
RB Leipzig, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg, Red Bull Brasil
3rd overall (all sports)
As co-founder and owner of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz's company is responsible for a number of football teams on three continents.
While New York Red Bull was initially his most high profile takeover/re-branding, the Austrian tycoon has seen most success with RB Leipzig, who were playing in the Champions League this season just nine years after starting out in Germany's fifth tier.
Other teams: Red Bull Racing (F1), Toro Rosso-Honda (F1)