Jeff Bezos Liverpool takeover explained: FSG leaving, transfer budget and All or Nothing documentary
Liverpool are set to receive investment from one of the richest people in the world.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the most eye-catching name on the list of new investors coming in to buy a stake in the club.
So what do we know about the deal, how is Bezos involved, and what can Liverpool fans expect to see happen next?
Do Amazon now own Liverpool?
No. Bezos is the founder and main individual shareholder in Amazon, but his involvement in Liverpool is completely separate from that – he is investing his personal wealth through a consortium rather than buying them as an Amazon subsidiary.
The actual situation is that FSG have agreed to sell a 30% in the club to a group calling themselves 1892 Holdings, which is led by British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia. Bezos is among the investors in 1892 Holdings alongside Eduardo and Elaine Saverin, and the Mittal family.
A £1.65bn deal has been agreed, which values the club at around £5.5bn.
However, the takeover still needs approval by the English game’s regulators. No issues are expected in that process, which even in the best-case scenario could take up to three months.
How does the Liverpool board change? Are FSG leaving?
The Guardian report that Bhatia, Elaine Saverin and Bryan Baum are expected to join the club board, with Bezos considered a ‘passive investor’ who will not take a place on the board.
But FSG will remain 70% owners and the day-to-day running of the club is expected to remain unchanged in the immediate term.
That differs significantly from the situation at, say, Manchester United, where Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS own a similar stake in the club but have taken control of how the club is run, including making changes at senior management level.
FSG insist that this is not an exit strategy for them, and they have prior history for bringing new investors into the fold without ceding control of the club: they sold around 10-11% of FSG (rather than the club directly, as it happening here) to a consortium called RedBird back in 2021.
Do Liverpool have a bigger transfer budget now?
The simplest answer to this is ‘no’, thanks to the way the Premier League’s rules on spending work.
The top flight has switched to something called Squad Cost Ratio from 2026/27, which essentially limits on-pitch spending – player transfer fees and wages – to 85% of football revenue plus net profit on player sales.
Money put in by the owners does not count towards that, and so Liverpool’s budget remains unchanged in the immediately term.
However, there are far fewer restrictions on what owners are allowed to fund off the pitch, and that’s where the takeover could help if the new part-owners are willing to stump up for it.
FSG have not been shy about investing in infrastructure, most notably their expansion of Anfield from its previous 45,000 capacity to 62,000 over the past decade or so.
Investments like that, when done well, can boost a club’s revenues (income) and thus give them more money to play with on the pitch over the longer term.
Will Liverpool get a streaming series, like All Or Nothing?
There’s no suggestion they will at the moment…but we wouldn’t be surprised.
Amazon Prime’s All or Nothing series has previously taken a behind-the-scenes look at Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal, and next Manchester United.
Naturally, Bezos having sway with both Amazon and Liverpool could provide an easy connection between the two,
But it would be daft to think Liverpool weren’t already the next obvious name on their list, even before Bezos’ investment, and we doubt whether Bezo’s involvement really changes that.
