How the owners of all 24 EFL Championship clubs built their fortunes | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at how all the owners of all 24 EFL Championship clubs build their fortunes.

The modern footballing landscape is ruthless when it comes to finances.

The Championship is full of clubs carrying a hatful of ambition, with dreams of top-flight football and, at the very least, stability in what is a highly competitive second tier.

Here, Football League World breaks down how every owner in the 2025/26 Championship made their money, as their clubs battle to achieve their respective goals.

Birmingham City - Tom Wagner/Knighthead Capital

Tom Wagner is the face of Birmingham City's ambitious future. In 2008, the 56-year-old co-founded Knighthead Capital Management, with the company making its fortunes through "fundamental analysis, operational and financial turnarounds and risk management."

In July 2023, Knighthead's affiliate, Shelby Companies Ltd, acquired a 45.64% stake in Birmingham City, alongside full ownership of St Andrew's Stadium.

The Blues were relegated to League One by the end of their first season at the helm, though they have come back to the Championship with sky-high ambitions after storming to promotion from the third tier.

Wagner has consistently pushed the idea of a bold "Sports Quarter" for the club, with a new 60,000-seater stadium, as they look to fully redevelop a club that has so often underperformed.

Blackburn Rovers - The Venkys

Blackburn Rovers are owned by V H Group, with 99.9% of the club being held by Venkys London, a subsidiary of the parent company.

The group, founded in India in 1971 as Venkateshwara Hatcheries Pvt Ltd, is well known in the poultry industry. Their work is geared towards producing a range of products, from processed foods to animal vaccines, alongside pharmaceutical products for both human and animal use.

Taking over at Ewood Park in 2010, the Venkys have come under consistent fire from Blackburn supporters due to a lack of investment and consistent controversy, with Rovers failing to return to the Premier League since relegation in 2012.

Bristol City - Steve Lansdown

Steve Lansdown co-founded Hargreaves Lansdown in 1981, before it became one of Britain's most successful investment services and stockbroking platforms. He became a billionaire as the company floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2007.

Lansdown first invested in Bristol City in the late 1990s, before he took full control of the club in 2002. He is one of the Championship's wealthiest individual owners, with his fortune entirely coming from financial services entrepreneurship.

Charlton Athletic - Global Football Partners

GFP emerged during the early 2020s boom in multi-club investment vehicles, bringing together private investors with backgrounds in sports management, finance and international holdings.

Charlton were acquired in 2023, bringing stability to the club after a turbulent decade. The Addicks would be promoted to the Championship in 2025, showcasing their growth across recent years.

The seven primary shareholders are Gabriel Brener and family, Joshua Friedman and family, Warren Rosenfeld and family, ACA Football Partners, Munir Javeri, Marc Boyan, and Charlie Methven, who is the current CEO.

Doug King is the CEO of Yelo Enterprises, who produce food and feed from UK-grown rapeseed. He is also the CEO of RMCA Capital LLP, who oversee investments of over $400 million.

He took over full control of the Sky Blues in January 2024, and the club has since continued its fantastic trajectory after a period of turmoil throughout recent history.

Coventry are flying in the Championship, and are favourites to achieve Premier League promotion after coming close via the play-offs twice in the last three calendar years.

Derby County - David Clowes

Clowes Developments was established in 1964 by Charles Clowes, and grew into one of the UK's major privately-owned property groups.

David Clowes, who inherited the business, specialises in commercial and industrial real estate. He would go on to purchase Derby County in 2022, rescuing the club from administration before guiding them back to the Championship after a spell in League One.

Hull City - Acun Ilicali

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali is the owner of Turkish TV channel TV8, and the founder and director of ACUNMEDYA, an international production company founded in 2005.

The company produces competition programs such as Fear Factor, Survivor, Var Misın Yok Musun, Yetenek Sizsiniz Türkiye, O Ses Türkiye and Exathlon in Turkey, and it has also produced programs in Greece.

Ipswich Town - Gamechanger 20 Ltd

The main owner of the Tractor Boys is ORG, an American investment fund that, according to the East Anglian Daily Times, "manage funds on behalf of large US pension pot - the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System - and who own 90% of Gamechanger 20 Ltd".

Edward Schwartz co-founded the organisation in 1999 and is the ORG representative for the club, while Brett Johnson, Berke Bakay and Mark Detmer, who enjoyed success previously with Phoenix Rising FC, also form part of the board.

Leicester City - The Srivaddhanaprabha family

Leicester's owner is Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddhanaprabha, and he is the son of the late former Foxes owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was the founder, owner and chairman of King Power. The travel retail group is Thailand's largest duty-free retailer. Top became involved with Leicester City in August 2010 when the Asia Football Investments consortium bought the club, assuming the role of vice-chairman.

He became chairman of the club in October 2018 after the tragic death of his father in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was estimated to be the fifth-richest man in Thailand, with Forbes magazine estimating him to be worth $4.9 billion, while Top was said to be the fifth-youngest billionaire in Asia on the same publication's 2020 World Billionaires List.

Middlesbrough - Steve Gibson

Gibson is the founder of Bulkhaul Limited, a company involved in the global transportation of bulk liquids, powders and gases.

He is the majority owner of Gibson O'Neill Company Ltd, a group which includes Bulkhaul, Middlesbrough and Rockliffe Hall Hotel.

Gibson is a lifelong Boro fan and helped save the club from liquidation by forming a consortium in 1986. Well-liked by fans, it is hard to imagine a world in which Boro are not under the guidance of Gibson.