Mark Walter and Todd Boehly selling stakes in Chelsea Football Club to Clearlake Capital

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter is selling his minority stake in Chelsea Football Club to Clearlake Capital, Chelsea said in a statement Wednesday night. Clearlake, which already held a 61.5% stake in the club, is also acquiring the stake of Chelsea Chairman Todd Boehly, giving it full control of the storied club, according to Chelsea. Boehly, who is a co-owner of the Dodgers, and Walter each held about 12.8% of the club. The Financial Times reported that the two men will receive a combined £950 million, or $1.27 billion, for their stakes in the deal, which values Chelsea at £5 billion. Boehly is departing as the club's chairman. The Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss "will remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group," the club's statement said. The sale comes more than a month after the announcement that Walter had agreed to sell his controlling ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger. The Lakers deal focused renewed attention on dual federal criminal and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into whether roughly $21 billion in investments by two insurers controlled by Walter — Delaware Life Insurance and Clear Spring Life and Annuity — were properly disclosed as affiliated or related-party transactions. Walter's holding company, TWG Global, in a statement on Aug. 26, said, "Despite what has been reported, there has been no fraud" at that company and its subsidiaries. "TWG is committed to working with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve their inquiries," the company said. Behdad Eghbali and José Feliciano, co-founders of Clearlake Capital, singled out Boehly in a statement. "Todd has been an important partner throughout our ownership of Chelsea, and we thank him for his time and contribution as Chairman," they said. "He will always be a part of the Chelsea story and family. Clearlake has served as Chelsea's majority owner since 2022, and as we move to full control our focus is to continue investing in the Club's infrastructure, sporting performance, player development and delivering long-term success for Chelsea and the Club's supporters," they said. Chelsea said, "There will be no changes to the day-to-day operations, leadership or strategy at the Club."