Who is Thomas Zilliacus? Finnish entrepreneur’s net worth, businesses and full statement after Man Utd latest bid

The race to buy Manchester United has been engulfed in chaos in recent days with key bidders said to have missed the deadline to make their fresh offers. However, the deadline was then extended and both Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim are expected to make improved bids to take the reins at Old Trafford.

While the pair were the only publicly declared bidders, there has since been progress made elsewhere after Thomas Zilliacus confirmed he had made his own bid. The Finnish entrpeneur is reporedly eager to buy half the club with the other half bought by fans, who would be part of club-decision making.

With another party now heavily in the mix, here is everything you need to know about Thomas Zilliacus and his interest in buying Manchester United...

Who is Thomas Zilliacus?

Thomas Zilliacus is a Finnish businessman, born in Helsinki in 1954. He currently resides in Singapore.

In 1979, Zilliacus was elected as the youngest member of the Helsinki City council and also ran for the National Parliament but was not elected. A year later he became Nokia’s corporate communications global head, then became their Asia-Pacific regional head and CEO of Nokia South East Asia in 1986 and has since founded the Mobile FutureWorks Group investment company.

The 69-year-old also has experience in football, having previously spent a season in the youth academy of Fluminense while in education. He was also the chairman of Finnish football club HJK Helsinki from 1982 to 1986 and also owned Geyland International for six years once he moved to Singapore shortly after.

What is Thomas Zilliacus’ net worth?

Thomas Zilliacus’ net worth is not known at the moment, though it is believed that he won’t have quite the wealth of either Ratcliffe or Jassim. This can also be assumed as he is only looking to pay for half of the club if he is to be successful in his pursuit, though it is not yet clear how much he will bid.

Thomas Zilliacus’ full statement

“Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans. The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarchs take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend.

“The current market value of the club is just under 3.9 billion USD. That means that if every one of the fans of the club would join in buying the club, the total sum per fan would amount to less than 6 dollars. My bid is built on equality with the fans.

“My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half. If every fan joins it means less than 3 dollars per fan.

“Each fan who joins will have access to an app which the fan, from anywhere in the world, can use to participate and cast his vote when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club. No decisions will be taken that are not supported by a majority of the fan base.

“Manchester United should not only be the best football club in the world, it should also be the leading club in the world in working to stop abuse, racism and hate speech in social media and on sports grounds.

“Should we be successful in our bid we will ensure that Manchester United, the best football club in the world, will operate on a foundation of respect, equality, dignity, diversity, racial harmony and democracy, and with its global fan base included and involved in all decisions.”