Where Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri ranks amongst Britain's richest football club owners | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday are going through a difficult time financially, but the same can’t be said for their controversial owner Dejphon Chansiri

Sheffield Wednesday are undergoing a period of stark financial hardship, but the same cannot be said for their controversial owner, Dejphon Chansiri.

The Thai businessman took over the club in January 2015, for a reported £30m sum.

He arrived with big ambitions of taking Wednesday to the Premier League, but has turned the financial taps off as that dream appears to slip ever further away.

The underfunded club have recently been hit with numerous embargoes and penalties for missed wages and late tax payments, but Chansiri himself still has some serious money behind him.

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri’s net worth

Based on a report from The Athletic earlier this year, the Chansiri family has significant wealth, estimated to be around $575m back in 2020, according to figures from Forbes.

On current rates, that equates to around £431m, a figure that dwarfs the £1m believed to be outstanding to HMRC, the cause of the Owls’ latest setback.

The family earned their fortune primarily through the Thai Union Group, the world’s largest producer of canned tuna at the time of the Forbes report in 2020, bringing in $4.2billion worth of revenue.

But the Wednesday owner is only one part of that setup, so his precise, individual wealth is harder to ascertain.

Where Dejphon Chansiri’s wealth ranks among British club owners

Based on Football League World’s own research earlier this year, that figure places Chansiri around middle of the road, in 11th place, in terms of Championship owners’ worth. The club certainly shouldn’t be the poor relations their current predicament is making them look.

The family are the 11th richest in the second tier, some way behind the owners of the side topping the list, Gamecharger 20 Ltd, current custodians of Ipswich Town.

Based on a report from the East Anglian Daily Times in 2021, that investment group has $13billion at its disposal, or around £9.7billion at current rates.

That in itself is a drop in the ocean compared to the richest owners in Britain, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, who have taken over Newcastle United in recent years.

They are believed to top the Premier League’s owners’ list, with a fortune of £489billion.

However, the Chansiri family are believed to be richer than at least two top-tier owners, according to GiveMeSport, with both Burnley’s Alan Pace (£190m) and Brentford’s Matthew Benham (£210m) both trailing behind.

It is time for Dejphon Chansiri to sell Sheffield Wednesday

Despite his own personal fortune, it is clear little, if any, of that money is reaching Hillsborough Stadium.

There have been claims that bids of £40m and £30m to buy the club have been submitted to Chansiri in recent months, amid the businessman saying he’s willing to sell the club at the correct terms.

Both of those offers would get Chansiri his initial investment back, but both were rejected, with some reports that he’s holding out for around £100m.

With the dire state of the club, and long road ahead to recover from recent setbacks, that figure seems fanciful.

Despite being a relatively well-off owner in Championship terms, Chansiri is not giving Wednesday the required backing.