The money behind Birmingham City: How Tom Wagner built his fortune | OneFootball

FLW looks at how Blues' American owner made his money pre-takeover

Birmingham City's current and long-term ambition under Knighthead Capital Management LLC has been well-documented in so many ways, with Tom Wagner at the very forefront of such goings-on.

The American took control of the club in July 2023, ending years of stagnation under the stewardship of BHSL in which Blues flirted with relegation on several occasions whilst failing to push towards the top end of the Championship.

Despite ironically being relegated to League One for the first time since 1995 during his first campaign in the boardroom at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, Wagner has quickly become one of the most popular owners in the country as a result of his future visions for the football club and the City of Birmingham as a whole.

Immediately after breaking the EFL's points record during a stunning season in the third-tier, Birmingham have immediately flexed their financial power in comparison to many of their divisional rivals in the second-tier. With that being said, Football League World has looked into how Wagner made his money prior to his purchase of the West Midlands outfit.

How Tom Wagner made his fortune prior to taking over Birmingham City in July 2023

Wagner's current firm, Knighthead, was founded back in 2008 alongside Ara Cohen after the 56-year-old had previously worked for Goldman Sachs.

The man who previously graduated from Villanova University and Beta Gamma Sigma from Columbia Business School, specialises in distressed credit, and had his firm valued at approximately $9bn (£7.25m) prior to his initial 45.98% acquisition in Birmingham City two summers ago.

On top of running Knighthead, the hedge fund manager reportedly has an individual net worth of approximately $1.6bn (£1.34bn), which is streets ahead of Blues' 3.3 percent minority stakeholder and NFL 'G.O.A.T', Tom Brady, who is only said to be worth $300bn, despite being the face of the recent Amazon Prime documentary linked to the club which is titled 'Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues.'

Tom Wagner knows no limits when stating Birmingham City's long-term ambitions

At the time of his takeover of the club, Wagner also took full control of St. Andrew's, which has since undergone a major transformation, including a £15m makeover in the summer of 2024.

However, the famous stadium isn't set to be Blues' home in the long run, as Knighthead have acquired land at and surrounding the defunct 'Birmingham Wheels' site as plans for a £2-3bn 'Sports Quarter' complex were effectively given the go-ahead in June following the announcement of a £1bn tramline extension on the West Midlands Metro which will run to the proposed 62,000-seater stadium en-route to East Birmingham and Birmingham Airport.

On the pitch, Wagner's ambition also knows no limits as Blues stunned the majority of English football supporters last summer with a record-breaking swoop for the poster boy of the rebuild, Jay Stansfield, on a permanent basis from Fulham.

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That continued into the current campaign with statement swoops for the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Demarai Gray, Tommy Doyle and Bright Osayi-Samuel among others, with Wagner hopeful that the club can return to the Premier League as soon as possible.

"Ultimately, getting promoted into the Premier League (is our ambition)," he said in June 2025.

"We'd like to do that as quickly as we can and then becoming highly competitive in the Prem.

"The reason we can do that, and I think this is something that is often lost on folks, if we were promoted next season, we'd immediately fall mid-table in total revenue because of the commercial partnerships that we've built up over the last two seasons," Wagner stated.

Knighthead also purchased a 49 percent stake