Arthur Elvin - Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium

In 1924 He was working at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in a cigarette kiosk. The following year he decided to buy his own shops within the grounds, eight for a total of £100. By the end of the Exhibition he had made over £1000 profit from his shops.

At the end of the exhibition a buildings entrepreneur bought the grounds and Elvin became a buildings demolition contractor to clear the site. He bought the derelict buildings one by one and sold off the scrap. Wembley Stadium went into liquidation at the end of the Exhibition after it was pronounced "financially unviable". Elvin offered to buy the stadium for £127,000, using a £12,000 downpayment and the balance plus interest payable over ten years.

After complications following the death of the original owner, Elvin bought Wembley Stadium at the agreed price with the new owners, (Wembley Company) who honoured Elvin's original deal. They then immediately bought it back from Elvin leaving him with a healthy profit. Instead of cash he received shares which gave him the largest stake in Wembley Stadium and he became chairman.

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