Old Trafford stadium, dwelling floor of Manchester United, in Manchester, northern England.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus, who has entered the race to purchase Manchester United, is a former Nokia government who says he made his fortune in Asia’s tech sector.
Little-known in his native Finland earlier than he threw his hat into the ring on Thursday, the 69-year-old Singapore resident is a passionate soccer fan, former proprietor of a hockey membership, and the founder and chairman of tech funding group Mobile FutureWorks Inc (MFW).
MFW, which is an unlisted firm, says it builds companies in fields starting from social media to on-line fee providers, eSports, streaming video and actual property.
“Companies controlled by MFW have operations and offices in more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, where it owns a controlling stake in more than 150 businesses,” it says on its web site.
Those companies have “a combined market value of more than $3 billion,” it says, a declare that’s tough to substantiate independently.
According to Finnish broadsheet Helsingin Sanomat, Mr. Zilliacus stated he constructed his wealth “through real estate, shares and setting up his own businesses”.
But his web value will not be publicly identified.
He is up in opposition to deep pockets in his bid for United, with British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, additionally within the working to take over the Premier League giants.
Mr. Zilliacus’s life-long love of sport is well-documented — he performed soccer as a boy and reportedly as soon as hung out within the academy set-up at Brazilian membership FC Fluminense.
He is a former co-owner of one among Finland’s largest ice hockey golf equipment, Jokerit, and has served as chairman of the soccer division of Finnish membership HJK.
Involved in scholar politics at Helsinki University, he began at Nokia in 1980, the place he turned international communications chief. A number of years later, whereas nonetheless at Nokia, he co-founded a modelling company.
He additionally co-founded Hartwall Arena within the late Nineties, the biggest live performance venue within the Helsinki space.
The Finn moved to Singapore the place he turned head of the cell phone firm’s enterprise within the Asia and Pacific area, staying with the agency till the mid Nineties.
He determined to deal with expertise in 1998, in response to Helsingin Sanomat.
His social media firm, Yuuzoo, was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2014, however share buying and selling was suspended 4 years later.
Mr. Zilliacus is promising supporters of Manchester United, 20-time English champions, the possibility to personal 50$ of the membership.
“My bid is built on equality with the fans,” he stated.
“My group will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club and will ask the fans, through a new company that is being set up for this specific purpose, to participate for the other half.”
Source web site: www.thehindu.com
