Chelsea Football Club were founded by Gus Mears in 1905. Following his demise in 1912 his family continued to own Chelsea until which was the year that Ken Bates bought the club from Mears great-nephew Brian Mears for PS1. Bates purchased a majority part of the team, and also floated Chelsea in the AIM stock exchange in the month of March. In the late 1990s, Chelsea enthusiast as well as successful businessman Matthew Harding became director of the club and provided the club with PS26 million to construct an entirely new North Stand and invest in new players.
The month of July, 2003 saw Roman Abramovich bought just over 50% of Chelsea Village plc's shares capital, which included Bates' 29.5% stake for PS30 million. He then in the subsequent weeks, he purchased the majority of the remaining shareholders for 35p per share, which was the PS140 million acquisition. The other shareholders who participated in the acquisition were those from the Matthew Harding estate (21 percent), BSkyB (9.9 percent) as well as a number of offshore trusts.
In the time of the Abramovich purchase, the club was also in debt of PS100 million, that included a 10-year PS75 million Eurobond which was issued in 1997 under the Bates regime to acquire the rights to Stamford Bridge and finance the reconstruction for the Stadium. The interest rate of 9% for the loan to the team cost about PS7 million annually and as per Bruce Buck, Chelsea struggled to pay an installment to be paid in the month of July. Abramovich was able to pay off a portion of the debt in a matter of hours but the balance of PS36 million due on the Eurobond wasn't fully paid until the year 2008. In the years since, Chelsea was debt-free.
Abramovich changed the name of his ownership change to Chelsea FC plc, whose the ultimate owner was Fordstam Limited, which was managed by Abramovich. Chelsea were also financed by Abramovich through interest-free credit that were arranged by his holding firm Fordstam Limited. The loan amount was PS709 million as of December 2009 when they all were converted into capital by Abramovich and left the club debt-free however the loan was still with Fordstam.
Chelsea did not make an income in the first nine years under Abramovich's management as well as suffered huge losses, totalling PS140m at the end of June. On November 12, 2012 Chelsea reported a loss of PS1.4 million in the year that ended on 30 June 2012, which was the first time that the club achieved a profit during Abramovich's control. Then came an unprofit in 2013 before they made the club's highest-ever profits of PS18.4 million in the period from November 2012 until June 2014. In the year 2018, Chelsea reported a record after-tax profits in the amount of PS62 million.
Chelsea are called an international brand. A 2012 study by Brand Finance ranked Chelsea fifth among football brands , and estimated the value of their brand at US$398 million . This is up 27% over the year before, as well as the value was 10 million dollars higher than the sixth-highest brands, London rivals Arsenal - and awarded Chelsea a brand strength grade of AA (very robust). In the year 2016, Forbes magazine named Chelsea as the seventh-highest valued soccer club around the globe with a value of PS1.15 billion ($1.66 billion). In 2016, Chelsea are ranked eighth in the Deloitte Football Money League with a commercial income that is PS322.59 million.
As of May 20, 2022, Chelsea are still ranked 8th in Forbes. In addition, they are listed as 8th according to Deloitte with annual commercial revenues at EUR493.1 million.
Recent financial reports of the club reveal PS26.6m they've paid in compensation for the former chief coach Antonio Conte for the sacking of him and for paying off his backroom staff, as well as the legal expenses that came with.
On February 26, 2022, at the time of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Abramovich gave over "stewardship and the care" of Chelsea FC to the Chelsea Charitable Foundation. Abramovich issued an official statement on March 2nd 2022, confirming that he will sell the club because of the current conflict in Ukraine. While the UK government frozen Abramovich's assets in the United Kingdom on 10 March because of his "close relations with Kremlin" however, it was clarified it was clear that Chelsea club would be able to continue operating in the context of activities related to football. On the 12th of March it was announced that the Premier League disqualified Abramovich as director at Chelsea Football Club.
On the 19th of March in 2022 Five confirmed bids to buy Chelsea FC: submitted to Raine Capital who were handling the sale of the club. There was an alliance led by former Liverpool Chairman Sir Martin Broughton, a group of investors that was led by the family of Ricketts (among the members are Joe Ricketts and Pete Ricketts), Swiss and American businessmen Hansjorg Wyss and Todd Boehly, Aethel Partners led by Portuguese Ricardo Santos Silva and British multi-millionaire businessman Nick Candy, supported by former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli.
On May 7, the club finally acknowledged that "terms were agreed" for an ownership group that is headed by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. The 30th of May has been confirmed by a group headed by Boehly as well as Clearlake Capital have completed the acquisition for the soccer club. This consortium includes Wyss as well as Mark Walter as well. Walter Boehly and Walter Boehly are also the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as they also own the Los Angeles Lakers as well as the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction has received all the necessary authorizations from The Governments of the United Kingdom and Portugal, The Premier League as well as other authorities.