Billionaire Glazer family members debating Manchester United stake sale

Some members of the billionaire Glazer family have been debating whether to sell their stake in Manchester United FC, after more than 20 years of ownership that has often been blighted by fan protest, people familiar with the matter said.

Several stakeholders in the US-based Glazer family have been studying the possibility of divesting part or all of their holdings in the English Premier League football club, according to the people.

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The internal discussions initially centred on stake sales by some individual family members, who are now hoping to convince others to join them, the people said.

Deliberations come as Manchester United’s owners face a potential multibillion-pound bill to redevelop the club’s famous Old Trafford stadium in the coming years.

An artist’s impression of the new stadium for Manchester United, unveiled by Foster + Partners in March last year. Image: Supplied

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On the other hand, the club’s recent qualification for the lucrative UEFA Champions League comes with fresh earnings potential, providing incentive to remain invested.

The Glazer family as a whole hasn’t made a decision to exit, and different family members are still discussing the best path forward, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Some remain against a sale and it could be difficult to pursue a deal unless they come around, some of the people said.

No comment 

A representative for Manchester United declined to comment. The Glazers didn’t respond to a request for comment made through the club.

Any potential sale could attract interest from suitors including Middle Eastern parties, as well as wealthy individuals in the US.

Buyers would likely face a steep price tag for such a high-profile sporting asset at a time when the cost of financing large M&A remains elevated.

Shares in Manchester United trade at around $21 on the New York Stock Exchange, giving the club a market value of around $3.6 billion, although any potential sale would far exceed that valuation due to the voting rights of Glazer shares.

Avram and Joel Glazer serve as executive co-chairmen at the club. Their siblings Kevin Glazer, Bryan Glazer, Darcie Glazer Kassewitz and Edward Glazer are all directors on the board.

The Glazers’ current deliberations come little more than two years after the family sold a roughly 29% stake in Manchester United to Jim Ratcliffe.

That gave the UK billionaire and founder of chemicals group Ineos Group Holdings SA control of footballing operations. Glazer family members were split at the time over whether to sell some or all of the club. They ultimately opted for a deal with Ratcliffe over a full sale to a group of wealthy Qatari investors, which had offered more than £5 billion ($6.7 billion) for the club, Bloomberg News reported at the time.

A spokesperson for Ineos didn’t immediately respond to queries.

Fan anger

Any sale of Manchester United would bring to an end one of the longest ownerships in top-flight English football — and also one of the most contentious, with the Glazers having faced distrust among hardcore supporters from day one.

The late Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United in a 2005 leveraged buyout that left the historic club with massive debts.

While early on-field success under the club’s legendary ex-manager Alex Ferguson helped keep fan anger at bay, things began to unravel after Ferguson retired in 2013.

Since then, Manchester United has cycled through managers and superstar players with only a handful of trophies to show for it.

Despite Ratcliffe’s eventual arrival, Manchester United continued to struggle and in 2025 failed to qualify for a European competition for the first time in more than a decade. This added to a belief among some fans that a more radical change in ownership was needed.

Things improved in the second half of last season, which resulted in qualification for the lucrative UEFA Champions League tournament. That achievement would likely boost the value of Manchester United in any potential sale.

Manchester United is one of the best-known and most successful clubs in world football. It has won a record 13 English Premier League titles and has consistently been able to attract the game’s biggest stars, including the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

In recent years, however, dominance of English football has shifted more to crosstown rivals Manchester City FC, which has won multiple honors since being taken over by Abu Dhabi investors in 2008.

Manchester City has just won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, but lost the race for the Premier League title to Arsenal FC, the London club backed by US billionaire Stan Kroenke.

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