Daniel Kretinsky, the owner of Royal Mail, is set to overtake David Sullivan as West Ham’s largest shareholder after agreeing to buy an additional stake in the club from the Gold family. The Czech billionaire has moved to increase his power at West Ham after Sullivan stepped down as a director and co-chair of the club last Saturday, before a joint investigation by the Times and Panorama reporting on seven women accusing him of abusing his power and preying on them for sex in claims that date back to the 1980s and 90s.
Kretinsky will increase his stake from 27% to 43% after agreeing to buy a portion of shares from Vanessa Gold, who inherited her 25% stake after the death of her father, David Gold, in January 2023.
Gold and Kretinsky have said the deal will be ratified in the next few weeks and revealed they have “agreed to vote jointly on key matters and to support the strategy targeting an immediate return to the Premier League”.
West Ham are in major financial difficulties after their relegation last month, and Kretinsky intends to inject capital in an attempt to help Nuno Espirito Santo, the club’s manager, build a squad capable of winning promotion.
Sullivan, who categorically denies all of the allegations against him, has been the club’s largest shareholder until now and was the most influential figure at West Ham. It remains unclear if Sullivan intends to sell his 38.8% stake, although that decision could be taken out of his hands if the Independent Football Regulator decides to follow its preliminary inquiries into the allegations against the 77-year-old.
The IFR has the power to force the former pornography baron to divest his shares if it concludes he no longer meets the required standards of honesty and integrity to own a football club. A nonexecutive director on the IFR, Tara Warren, has been removed from any potential investigation into Sullivan to avoid conflict of interest. Warren was a senior director of West Ham until February.
Kretinsky, who became a shareholder at West Ham after paying £150m for a stake from Sullivan and David Gold in 2021, will face a battle to lift morale and get the club back on track.
A source with knowledge of the club’s inner workings described the situation behind the scenes as a “mess”. West Ham made a loss of £104.2m last year and need to raise more than £100m in transfer sales, raising the prospect of them losing key talent such as Jarrod Bowen, Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville. They do not have a sporting director and their head of technical recruitment, Max Hahn, has handed in his resignation.
Kretinsky and Gold released a statement on Saturday morning saying they were “deeply concerned” by the allegations made by the Times and Panorama. A source said it was not until 21 May that Sullivan informed the full board at West Ham of the potential of the story concerning his alleged behaviour towards women being published.
It was only after relegation to the Championship that board members were also told Sullivan has been restricted from interacting with West Ham’s women and youth teams since 2023 after a safeguarding inquiry by the Football Association. The women’s team were not aware of the restrictions imposed on Sullivan. It is understood this followed the FA receiving a complaint about a historical allegation dating back to the 198os, which Sullivan has denied.
Kretinsky and Gold said: “We were deeply concerned by the revelations made by The Times and Panorama this week and our thoughts go out to those women who have fought so hard to make their voices heard. Any abuse of power is abhorrent, and it takes great courage and determination to speak up against it.
“As shareholders and directors of West Ham, our focus is now firmly on protecting the future of this football club. Our goal is to stabilise West Ham United, retain as many of our key players as possible and, under the management of Nuno Espírito Santo, secure an immediate return to the Premier League. We are also committed to engaging with our fans and all business partners to build a stronger future for our club. We have already taken concrete steps toward this goal.
“As such, we have reached agreement on the key terms of a share purchase transaction between the Gold family and 1890 Holdings, which, subject to other shareholders’ pre-emption rights and necessary approvals, would make 1890 Holdings (part of the broader group EP) the largest shareholder in West Ham with an approximately 43% stake. As the largest shareholder, group EP will be able to provide the additional financing the club needs.”
