How rich West Ham, Wolves and Burnley's owners are as Championship beckons | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at the net worths of the owners of the three recently relegated Premier League clubs

The 2026/27 Championship campaign kicks off on August 14, and with plenty of time before a ball is kicked, the early promotion favourites are still the three recently relegated sides.

The gap in finances is there to be seen between the second tier and the Premier League, with the amount of prize money and TV revenue that top-flight clubs get compared to those in the second tier.

With that, though, comes the need for rich investors and owners to oversee proceedings and pump money into the club so they can try to maintain their status as a Premier League side, and you often find a clear correlation between the richest owners in the game and top-flight clubs.

So, with all that in mind, it's expected that Burnley, Wolves and West Ham will all have the upper hand when it comes to having the resources and the financial backing to compete right at the top, especially the latter two, who also spent time in Europe during their latest stint in the top flight.

How rich West Ham, Wolves and Burnley's owners are

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West Ham placed 20th in world football in terms of revenue generated during the 2024/25 campaign. Last season may have been a slight disaster in terms of performance on the field, but there's a high likelihood that their off-field records will have been among the elite.

The main man at the helm of the London Stadium-based club is now set to become Daniel Kretinsky, who agreed a deal to buy an additional stake in the club on June 13, taking his overall share to 43%.

The Czech businessman also co-owns Sparta Prague and owns the Royal Mail service, too. Forbes states that his net worth is $9.8 billion (£7.45 billion), which places him as the 354th richest person in the world.

Meanwhile, Wolves are owned by Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun International, whose ultimate shareholder is Guo Guangchang, with the remaining shares owned by Liang Xinjun and Wang Qunbin.

The club has been under the Fosun ownership for a decade now, and Molineux has seen Championship titles, European nights and Premier League relegation under their reign.

According to Forbes, the company's market value is $4.23 billion (£3.21 million), but their assets enter the $100 billion region, so they have a lot to play with.

And, finally, Burnley owner Alan Pace was the poorest owner in the Premier League last season, according to the Burnley Express back in January. Then again, that's more due to the number of billionaires in charge of top-flight clubs.

Indeed, the former Wall Street trader is said to have a net worth of £190 million, which isn't even that high compared to some of their new Championship peers.

But the amount of money currently in the club through broadcast deals and parachute payments from their Premier League past will help bring that amount up without the need for extra investment, which the Clarets owner has shown in the past that he is capable of, regardless.

West Ham's owners are said to be one of the richest in England

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According to that Burnley Express report, West Ham's shareholders at the time, which included David Sullivan and Vanessa Gold (and still do, albeit the future of Sullivan as owner could be in jeopardy after recent allegations, which the man denies), sat sixth in the Premier League rich list.

Indeed, only Arsenal, Chelsea, both Manchester City and United and Newcastle United had richer owners than the ones at the London Stadium.

With Kretinsky poised to become the majority shareholder, he'll be keen to put some of his personal net worth into the club to help engineer a promotion push immediately.

That, plus the parachute payments, elite-level facilities and the amount of money that the club will have received throughout their 14-year stay in the top flight, should put the Hammers in pole position to secure promotion.

Wolves, albeit not as rich as West Ham, will be the same, dwarfing the other 22 Championship clubs next season when it comes to overall net worth.