Boehly and Walter explore selling Chelsea stakes to majority owner Clearlake Capital

Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and director Mark Walter have explored selling their stakes in the club to majority owner Clearlake Capital, multiple sources say, after a rift first apparent in 2024 led members of the ownership group to consider buyouts. Talks have begun within Chelsea's ownership group and could see Clearlake, led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano, purchase the minority holdings.

Clearlake currently holds a 61.5% stake in Chelsea and is led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano. Todd Boehly and Mark Walter each own 12.8% of the club and are reported to value Chelsea at £5bn, which would equate to roughly £640m to each if sold. Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss owns a further 12.8%, although his position is described as unclear. Some sources say the ownership talks followed a split that became visible in 2024.

Multiple sources say the discussions began after a rift, first apparent in 2024, prompted both sides to explore buying each other out. Other voices within the club and the ownership group downplay the dispute, pointing to images of Boehly and Clearlake figures together at key matches, notably at Chelsea's FA Cup final defeat by Manchester City. Since 2023 Behdad Eghbali has taken a leading role at the club and has been heavily involved in transfer dealings, while a number of senior executives have left within the first two years of the new ownership.

It would represent a further reduction in Boehly's influence after he served as the public face of the takeover and later acted as interim sporting director during the first transfer window under the new ownership. Differences within the ownership camp have also surfaced over long-term planning for the club's home, with debate centring on whether to redevelop Stamford Bridge or move to a new stadium.

Both Boehly's camp and Clearlake are understood to favour moving away from the current site, but they disagree on the design and scale of any project, according to the sources. Boehly addressed the issue in an interview with Bloomberg in March, saying: "We have to think long term about what we're trying to accomplish," and adding, "We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to flesh out. That's going to be where we're either aligned or we ultimately decide to go different ways."

Mark Walter, who is co-owner and chief executive of Guggenheim Partners where Boehly also began his financial career, last week sold the Los Angeles Lakers for a record $12.5bn (£9.23bn), a year after buying a majority stake in the NBA franchise. Separately, US federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating companies in Walter's business empire, the sources say.

Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League last season and appointed Xabi Alonso as their new manager in the summer. Chelsea and representatives for Boehly, Walter and Clearlake have declined to comment.

Boehly currently serves as Chelsea chairman but is due to be replaced at the end of the season by a Clearlake-appointed representative under a pre-agreed arrangement made when the consortium bought the club from Roman Abramovich for £2.3bn in 2022.