Jeff Bezos is dipping a toe into the world of sports ownership.
Mr. Bezos, the third richest man in the world, is part of a group buying about one third of Liverpool Football Club, an English Premier League team. The deal was announced on Friday by Fenway Sports Group, the team’s majority owner.
Amit Bhatia, a London investor and the son-in-law of the Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, is leading the investment group called 1892 Holdings. He will become vice chairman of Liverpool once the deal has closed, according to a person with knowledge of the arrangement. Mr. Bhatia was a co-owner of the Queens Park Rangers, a soccer team that plays in England’s second-tier league, until earlier this year when he turned his attention toward Liverpool.
The deal values the club at a little more than $7 billion, according to a second person with knowledge of the agreement.
“Liverpool has always been built by thinking beyond one season and making decisions with the club’s long-term interests in mind,” Mike Gordon, president of Fenway Sports Group, said in a statement. “As we considered this opportunity, it became clear that Amit and the consortium shared our long-term philosophy and appreciation for what makes Liverpool special.”
Mr. Bezos is the lead investor in K5 Sports, part of the venture capital firm K5 Global, which is one of the three main firms in the group of investors. Mr. Bezos will have no functional role in the organization, but Bryan Baum, a co-founder of K5 Sports, will join Liverpool’s board. The group also has a major investment from EE Capital, which manages the wealth and global assets of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and his wife, Elaine. Elaine Saverin will also join Liverpool’s board.
“To be welcomed as a partner in a club of this stature is a huge privilege,” Mr. Bhatia said in a statement. “We are making this investment because we believe deeply in Liverpool and its leadership, and we look forward to supporting the club’s continued success for years to come.”
Fenway Sports Group will remain in control of Liverpool, and this sale would not change its day to day operations, said one of the people with knowledge of the deal.
The deal is another sign of the growing value of sports teams and their desirability as investment properties. A majority stake of the Los Angeles Lakers sold in the past week to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger in a deal that valued the team at $12.5 billion, a record for the N.B.A.
It is the first foray into sports ownership for Mr. Bezos, the founder of Amazon, who is worth $286 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has long been linked to possible deals, most seriously the 2023 sale talks for the Washington Commanders.
He regularly attends major sports events, including a World Cup match in July with his wife, Lauren Sanchez. Amazon has expanded aggressively into the world of sports rights. Amazon’s Prime Video broadcasts N.F.L., N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. games as well as NASCAR races.
Mr. Bezos’ involvement was first reported by Sky News.
Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, purchased Liverpool in 2010 for 300 million pounds. In 2023, it sold a minority stake to Dynasty Equity. Fenway Sports Group used that money to pay down its debt and make improvements to the club’s stadium and training facility.
Fenway Sports Group also counts the N.B.A. star LeBron James as one of its partners.
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