Chelsea minority owners in talks to sell their shares
Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are negotiating to sell their 12.8% stakes to majority owner Clearlake, which holds 61.5% of Chelsea.
Minority shareholders Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are in talks to sell their stakes in Chelsea to the club’s majority owners, Clearlake Capital, the club’s ownership group confirmed on August 18, 2026. Clearlake currently controls 61.5% of the club while Boehly and Walter each hold 12.8%.
Ownership rethink as stadium plans and past tensions resurface
The negotiations, centered on a potential sale of the two minority parcels back to Clearlake — led by Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano — mark another chapter in a relationship that has shown strains since the takeover. Boehly was the public face of the consortium that acquired the club four years ago in a deal valued at £2.5 billion.
Long-term plans for Stamford Bridge have been a recurring source of disagreement. In March 2025 Boehly warned that the owners could "go their separate ways" if they failed to agree on the stadium's future, as the club weighed whether to expand the current site or relocate, with Earls Court among locations under consideration.
Those strategic disputes follow earlier tensions inside the club’s hierarchy. Reports from September 2024 indicated Boehly was unhappy with how the club was being run and opposed the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino. Pochettino was later replaced by Enzo Maresca, who led Chelsea to victories in the Europa Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup before leaving in early 2026.
On the pitch Chelsea finished 10th in the league in the 2025–26 season and missed out on European competition. Xabi Alonso was appointed manager that summer and the team invested heavily in the transfer windows, spending more than £280 million on 12 new signings as the club seeks to rebuild.
For now the ownership talks are private and ongoing, and any deal would reshape the club’s governance structure. Club executives and the involved investors have not announced a timetable for completing the negotiations.
Photo: FC Chelzi
