Liverpool handed Jeff Bezos investment verdict as former CEO shares theory on FSG takeover plan

Exclusive: Our Liverpool correspondent Paul Gorst sits down with former Reds CEO Peter Moore to talk about FSG and Amit Bhatia's investment group

Former CEO Peter Moore believes Jeff Bezos's links to a consortium looking to take a 30% share in Liverpool are "a red herring". But the former Reds chief has hinted that the group that is fronted up by ex-Queens Park Rangers owner Amit Bhatia could lead to Fenway Sports Group eventually walking away from Anfield.

It was revealed last week that Reds owners FSG are open to negotiations with a group led by former QPR owner Amit Bhatia, with the Boston-based organisation confirming to the ECHO that discussions are at an early stage for what has been coined as a "significant minority". It was also reported last week that Amazon owner Bezos, who stands as the third richest man on the planet with a net worth of £201billion, according to Forbes, was approached about being involved.

Bhatia's group is backed by the Mittal family, whose net worth was most recently valued at over £26billion, and the former QPR owner is is the son-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, the executive of the world's largest steel and mining company, ArcelorMittal.

Sources close to Mr Bhatia have so far refused to comment on speculation regarding Amazon founder Bezos and his position regarding the deal with FSG but Moore, who served as Liverpool's CEO between 2017 and 2020, thinks the talk is unlikely to come to fruition at this stage.

"I lived through the 'FSG Out' period," Moore told the ECHO in New York. "And no matter how many games we won, it was always furloughing, trademarks, all the drama we went through, the Super League - which was after my time - but [some fans used to say] 'we need an oil sheikh'. I am not sure we do.

"We need yes, substantial, financial money that can come into the club to support it but even with that, you go to live within PSR (Profit and Sustainability Regulations).

"You can't just be writing $100m checks because you've got them. No, you've got to build a football club.

"And we have it now, Liverpool have it now, to the credit of (CEO) Billy Hogan and his team, a commercial machine that drives revenues to go and spend money on players, which we saw last summer, which shocked the heck out of everyone.

"So from that perspective, we have that luxury to be able to do it now. Whether they do it every summer, we'll see. But Billy and his team have built and amazing commercial machine that gives us the latitude to do that.

"And our owners are phenomonal. And I've said this many, many times: I met a lot of owners that weren't, who were in it for different reasons.

"So they probably look at an Amit Bhatia, at QPR for 17 years. He's still young, he still loves the game, you know, if you go to Loftus Road that many times, you've got to love the game.

"And perhaps more importantly, his father-in-law seems to have considerable wealth to say the least. So you have the Mittal family as well and then you have the Jeff Bezos stuff.

"Look, I live in Silicon Valley, sure someone sends an email to Jeff Bezos and says: 'Would you be interested in doing this consortium?' That doesn't mean Jeff Bezos [will accept], whose never put a penny into sports.

"You also have to look at people's passions because as much as football or sports is a commercial business and high stakes, you need people who understand the culture, understand the pitfalls and are willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.

"And I think that is probably the attraction of am Amit Bhatia and the Mittal family generally.

"Jeff has never shown any interest and even if he did, if he put in one percent of his net worth that he is going to throw in here and he can bring his wife, Lauren Sanchez, to Anfield, where she can come to Anfield and the cameras will be on her and she can have a right great time.

"You don't want or need that [if you're FSG], so the Bezos thing to me is a red herring."

Influential American finance publication Bloomberg stated last week that the potential agreement between Mr Bhatia's group and FSG could pave the way for the consortium to take a controlling stake at Anfield further down the line.

Moore believes FSG chiefs John W Henry and Tom Werner - who serve as Liverpool's principal owner and chairman, respectively - could use the potential agreement as their exit strategy after 16 years in charge at Anfield.

In a Blood Red podcast recorded at New York's Playwright pub, Moore adds: "Well, what do I know? But I do know John, Tom, Mike Gordon and the FSG partners and John and Tom are both 76 years of age.

"John has still got a relatively young family, Linda [Pizutti, wife], their kids. Tom recently remarried, both are excellent human beings.

"Mike Gordon is younger, early 60s. I am in my 70s and let me tell you, when you hit 70, you start looking at things a little differently.

"You go: 'OK, what is my legacy going to be? How does my estate look like? What am I leaving behind for people?' It sounds somwhat morose but that is how you have to think. It is the responsible thing to do.

"And it may well be that you have a club now that is, based on that 30% investment, is worth £4.5billion. It's about $6bn.

"I think they paid £300m for the club and you have these other partners who are relatively silent but I know them because they used to come over to Liverpool on a regular basis and they are of a similar age.

"If you'd have asked me 12 months ago I'd have said they are interested in an NBA expansion franchise but all of a sudden an $8bn franchise fee comes out of Las Vegas in the last few weeks and maybe a little less in Seattle.

"And even FSG say: 'I don't think so'. So, you know, that's the other thing. You get the money, what happens [next]? The one thing that enthuses me, it shows some long-term thinking, they clearly spent a long time with this guy (Bhatia) because they felt compelled to make a public statement.

"I think you just start to think as John and Tom in particular would do, how long do they want to do this? And, knowing John, it may be a case of him saying: 'How much for Bradley Barcola?!'

"Because they jumped in when it was £10m and £12m [for transfers] and Andy Robertson was £8m. And they might say 'how much now?'

"And John, in particular, will say he's not sure we, FSG, will want to continue to play in this marketplace. I don't know, but that's my perspective."

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