Players

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus bought Sunderland at 23, but he wasn't the youngest to own a soccer team

By Mauricio Saenz

He fell in love with the English team because of a series, but it's not the record: the case of the youngst soccer team owners ever.

He fell in love with the English team because of a series, but it's not the record: the case of the youngst soccer team owners ever.

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Frenchman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus it's just 23 years old and he is now the owner of the historical English team Sunderland, that use to dominte soccer in the European country: six-time Premier League champion (1891-92, 1892-93, 1894-95, 1901-02, 1912-13, 1935-36).

Besides, former Marseille owner and Adidas CEO's son has become the youngest chairman ever in English soccer. He and his family have made a fortune through the Louis-Dreyfus Group, a world leader in food processing, agriculture and transportation, as well as he is the owner of several hedge funds, which worth more than € 30 billion.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus took a majority stake in the club, which now plays in Ligue One, leaving Stewart Dnonal, Juan Sartori and Charlie Methven with a minority. When he began negotiations with Ellis Short three years ago, Sunderland was nearly £ 200 million ($280 million) in debt, was losing £ 35 million ($49 million) a year and had almost been relegated to League One.

The courious thing is that this young Louis-Dreyfus fell in love with Sunderland because of the Netflix series "Sunderland 'Till I die", which showed the intimacies of a club in the Second Division. Players, dressing rooms and everything that is not seen is incorporated behind the curtain.

However, strange as it may sound, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is not the youngest club owner in England. How is that? In 2019, seven college students became the youngest owners of the English club Walton & Hersham. And they did it at 19... They are Sartej Tucker, Calogero Scannella, Jack Newton, Reme Edetanlen, Thomas Bradbury, Ben Madelin y Stephan Karidis.

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