Sheikh Jassim's staggering net worth as his Man United takeover plans are revisited

The son of Qatar's former emir Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani reportedly attempted a full buyout of Manchester United in 2023

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, a Qatari banker and son of the former emir has seen his Manchester United takeover plans re-examined. In 2023, his bid rivalled one submitted by eventual new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos.

United opened up to investment in 2023 and after a drawn-out process it was Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe who purchased an almost 30 per cent stake in the club. He has now spoken openly about the early stages of his ownership leaving many wondering what things would have looked like under Sheikh Jassim.

It was reported two years ago that the Qatari billionaire was rivalling Ineos and sought a full takeover of the club. His team stated at the time that they wished to restore the club to its "former glories" and had the financial firepower to do so.

Forbes has previously shed light on Sheikh Jassim's individual net worth, which is rumoured to be in the region of £900million. But the Al-Thani family of which he is a part is estimated to hold a combined net worth of £125billion, more than enough to purchase United outright.

Also during their reported takeover bid, Sheikh Jassim and his team claimed that they would eradicate all gross debt currently owed by the club. After the 2025 summer transfer window it is estimated that United owes various parties up to £1.1b.

"The bid plans to return the club to its former glories," their statement read. "The bid will be completely debt-free, via Sheikh Jassim's Nine Two Foundation.

"It will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the club supports.

"The vision of the bid is for Manchester United to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world."

Alas, it was Ineos who purchased a minority stake in the club two years ago. After what has been a lacklustre start to his United tenure, the co-owner has now called for calm.

"There are two halves to a football team - there is the business side and the sports side," Ratcliffe admitted on the Business podcast. "The biggest correlation, like it or not, between results and any external factor, is profitability. The more cash you have got, the better squad you can build.

"It's like a Formula 1 car, the better car you can build, the quicker you go. The better your squad, the better your football should be. So a lot of what we have done in the first year is spend an awful lot of time putting the club on a sustainable, healthy footing.

"If you look at our results for last year we have the highest revenues ever. Profitability, the second highest ever. We're not seeing all the benefits of the restructuring that we've done in this set of results, and we were not in the Champions League.

"Those numbers will get better. Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high level of football."

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