The EFL Championship's top 9 wealthiest owners in 2026/27 | OneFootball

Football League World takes a look at the Championship's nine wealthiest owners ahead of the 2026/27 campaign

The 2026-27 Championship line-up is now set, with West Ham's relegation, coupled with Bolton Wanderers' League One play-off final win confirming the 24-team division.

And with two more play-off spots opening up for the 2026-27 season, the chase for the Premier League riches is going to be more hotly-contested than ever in the second tier of English football.

New financial measures are also coming into place, with profit & sustainability rules (PSR) being taken away and incoming are squad cost rules (SCR), where owners can only invest £33 million in equity over a three-year period, whilst player and manager costs can only amount to 85 per cent of a club's yearly turnover.

Owners tend to need deep pockets to fund a promotion-chasing club in the Championship - but who are the nine wealthiest owners in the second tier ahead of next season? FLW takes a look...

9 ? ? Mark Attanasio - Norwich City

For the longest time, Norwich City were ran by celebrity chef Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn-Jones, having joined the club's board in 1996 before becoming majority shareholders in 1998.

Seeking outside investment though for someone with far deeper pockets than themselves, enter Mark Attanasio, who after initially being appointed as a director at Carrow Road in 2022, became the majority shareholder in 2024 - much like how Smith and Wynn-Jones came to being in control 26 years prior.

With prior experience and ownership at Baseball side the Milwaukee Brewers, Attanasio was seen as an ideal fit to take Norwich to the next level, and he now owns 85 per cent of the Norfolk outfit - with a net worth of $1.9 billion (£1.4 billion), according to Forbes, the 68-year-old certainly has the cash to try and take them back to the Premier League.

Blackburn Rovers are into their 16th year of the Venky's ownership, and to say it's been turbulent would be an understatement.

The glory days of Jack Walker's ownership had long gone when the Indian poultry giants purchased the Lancashire outfit from Walker's trust in 2010, but under their guidance, relegation from the Premier League came in 2012 - and they've never returned.

Despite the Rao family not attending a match since January 2013, they still continue to fund the club's annual losses, even if in recent times there has been struggles getting money out of their native India and to the UK, but they have a lot of finance, and as per a report from The News in 2025, the Venky's were worth an estimated £1.56 billion.

With restrictions from the High Court of Delhi now lifted ahead of 2026-27, could the Venky's be ready to invest more into the club's squad to guide them away from another potential relegation battle? Only time will tell...

7 ? ? John Coates - Stoke City

The Coates family have been involved in Stoke City since 1986, when Peter Coates became majority shareholder and chairman, but after selling to an Icelandic consortium in 1999, he would return seven years later, and in 2015, his son John would become vice-chairman.

Coates junior has worked his way up the ranks since, and in 2024, a change to the ownership structure saw John become sole owner of the club, and he is the one pulling the strings and making the big decisions on who comes and goes at the bet365 Stadium.

Bet365 has been a big business win for the Coates family, and as per Forbes' real-time net worth analysis, Coates himself is worth an estimated £2.3 billion, and despite Stoke's stagnation in the Championship recently, there's seemingly no sign of the funding stopping at the Staffordshire club.

6 ? ? Ruben Gnanalingam - QPR

Ruben Gnanalingam (second left), QPR majority owner

Reuters

QPR have had turbulent ownership changes over the years, with the eras of Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, then Tony Fernandes well and truly in the past.

The current ownership group at Loftus Road is mainly led by Malaysian businessman Ruben Gnanalingam, who owns just under 60 per cent of the Hoops, US investor Richard Reilly holds 21 per cent and former chairman Amit Bhatia also holding 20 per cent.

Whilst Gnanalingam's personal wealth isn't known, the family wealth sits at a healthy £2.3 billion, as per Forbes, with much of their successful business coming from the shipping industry in the form of Westports Holdings.

Gnanalingam is the executive chairman and group managing director of the company, with the 49-year-old being a part of the furniture in the QPR hierarchy since the Fernandes days in 2011 - that doesn't look set to change anytime soon, and with signings recently such as Richard Kone and Ronnie Edwards, he's definitely been putting his money where his mouth is.

5 ? ? Steve Lansdown - Bristol City

From the outside looking in, it may represent something of a surprise that, in Steve Lansdown, Bristol City have the fifth-richest owner at Championship level.

The Bristolian has held his position as chairman of the Robins since 2002, and is the founder of Bristol Sport alongside coupling his duties at Ashton Gate with a majority shareholder role with both Bristol Bears and Bristol Flyers.

This means that, as per Forbes, Lansdown's net worth sits at a whopping £2.38 billion. However, in contrast to other counterparts both on this list and outside of it, the 73-year-old's personal wealth has hardly been translated into a healthy transfer warchest for the Robins to utilise over the years.

Lansdown has undertaken serious work away from the field to help Bristol City grow, such as the impressive £40 million redevelopment of Ashton Gate around a decade ago, although his lack of investment into the playing squad has been a frequent point of frustration for supporters.

The Robins have significant potential and all the foundations are in place for that to be achieved, bar one - you do get the impression that they need to finally make a real splash on signings to get to that next level and threaten to head to the Premier League for the first time in the club's long history.

4 ? ? Michael Eisner - Portsmouth

When you look at how Portsmouth owner Michael Eisner has made his billions, it's no great shock that few second-tier sides can boast a wealthier chief than the New York native - even if, once again, that isn't always reflected in the club's transfer activity.

As per the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2024, Eisner has accumulated a net worth of $3.8 billion (£2.83 billion), having formerly held the role of Disney's CEO for more than 20 years before entering the world of football ownership by taking over Pompey nine years ago.

John Mousinho hasn't been totally without backing in recent years, and Pompey's exile from the Championship has ended under Eisner's ownership, but his investment continues to be patient and methodical without throwing everything towards bringing Premier League football back to Fratton Park.

3 ? ? Joshua Friedman - Charlton Athletic

We know far less about Charlton Athletic owner Joshua Friedman, who is the majority shareholder of a consortium - Global Football Partners - that completed a takeover to purchase the South London outfit from Thomas Sandgaard in the summer of 2023.

Indeed, official net worth estimates of Friedman are sparse. However, if claims of $5 billion (£3.72 billion) are to be believed, then Charlton very much have a wealthy board, and that has shone through in recent times.

The Addicks' investment has amplified since returning to the Championship through the League One play-offs in May of last year, which preceded - as per Transfermarkt - a summer spending spree under Nathan Jones worth €11.62 million (£10.07 million) as the likes of Rob Apter, Thomas Kaminski, Charlie Kelman and Harvey Knibbs all made their way to the Valley and ultimately helped to keep the side afloat.

2 ? ? David Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky - West Ham United

There are a number of shareholders on the board at West Ham, with the two largest stakes belonging to controversial chairman David Sullivan and his family, and Daniel Kretinsky at 38.8% and 27% respectively.

In terms of combined net worth, only one other team in the Championship can outmuscle the freshly-relegated Hammers. That's because, as per the Sunday Times Rich List of 2025 (via the BBC), Sullivan and his family were worth £1.11 billion, whilst Kretinsky's wealth comes in at $10 billion (£8.68 billion), putting their joint wealth at just under £10 billion.

Sullivan has ploughed heavy investment into West Ham over the years, much of which was done alongside the late David Gold, although he's hardly a popular figure at the London Stadium owing to the decision to move out of Upton Park and, more recently, a seemingly-endless series of big-money signings who have failed to deliver and that's ultimately why the East Londoners will be playing Championship football next season for the first time since 2012.

Wolves have the richest owners in the Championship overall, with the Old Gold enduring something of a rollercoaster journey throughout the Fosun Group's 10-year reign in charge at Molineux.

Made up of majority stakeholder Guo Guanchang, Fosun Group CEO Wang Qunbin and interim executive chairman Nathan Shi, Fosun's net worth is not publicly known. The Chinese conglomerate is seriously wealthy, though, and according to Companies Market Cap in June 2025, the total net worth sits at a stunning £20.53 billion.

Following a tumultous couple of years in the Premier League, which saw Wolves relegated in dead-last in 25/26, the Molineux faithful will now be hoping that Fosun can show the same level of investment and ambition back in the Championship just as they did when the side last graced the division, going up as champions after signing the likes of Ruben Neves and the late Diogo Jota.