Ken Bates

Ken Bates

Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He is the chairman and owner of Leeds United AFC.

After a short stint as chairman of Oldham Athletic, in 1980 he became co-owner and Vice Chairman of Wigan Athletic with his old business associate Feddie Pye. In 1982 Bates bought struggling, debt-ridden Second Division side Chelsea for £1 . During his tenure he helped the club win a long-running battle with property developers who were attempting to evict them from their Stamford Bridge home. By the end of his reign Chelsea were regularly finishing in the top six of the Premier League, and had won their first major trophies since the 1970s, although had a debt burden of around £80 million. In July 2003, he sold the club to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich from whom he received £140 million.

In January 2005, Bates bought a 50% stake in Leeds United, another club struggling under a heavy debt burden. In May 2007, Bates' tenure saw Leeds go into administration (with unpaid debts of some £35 million, having been reduced from £100m four season before) and suffer relegation to the third tier of English football. The following month, a consortium led by him bought the Club back from the Administrators, via offshore companies, for £1.5 million. After the Administration, the Club was considered to be "debt free". The Club regained Championship status in 2010 and, on 3 May 2011, in anticipation of promotion to the British football Premier League (not subsequently realised) Bates confirmed, according to the BBC, that he had become the sole owner of Leeds United.