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AFP
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Mohammed bin Salman is about to tackle Newcastle United.
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AFP
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2/7
The royal family’s fortune is estimated at CHF 1.3 trillion.
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keystone-sda.ch
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3/7
Previous Newcastle owner Mike Ashley agreed to the deal of over CHF 350 million.
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7/7
It has already helped Manchester City to a new owner.
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They literally swim in the money. They have so much that they hardly know where to put it. Yachts, castles, planes, cars – they have everything. Too much of everything. So new toys are needed: football clubs. Preferably in the most lucrative, glamorous league in the world: the Premier League.
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She? These are the richest of the rich. Roman Abramowitsch (53) for example. His fortune is estimated at CHF 12 billion. In 2003 he bought Chelsea for well over CHF 200 million. Or Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (49). It is worth CHF 28 billion and has been the main shareholder of Manchester City since 2009. Chelsea and Manchester City, both clubs that have since risen from staunch mediocrity to the world’s elite.
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But now a newcomer is taking a seat at the table of the Premier League players. And that’s another caliber: Mohammed bin Salman (34), the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, often also called MbS. Compared to him, the other super rich are poor swallowers. He is said to have a whopping 313 billion francs. The entire royal family is estimated to have a staggering fortune of 1.3 trillion or, to put it another way: 1,300,000,000,000 francs.
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One or the other luxury item can thus be afforded. MbS lives in the Château Louis XIV, a castle that he acquired in 2015 for CHF 300 million. It is the most expensive residential area in the world. If he spoils him on land, the Crown Prince can switch to his yacht “Serene”. The 134-meter-long dream ship is worth CHF 330 million. A joke amount for MbS.
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Allegation of human rights violations
So get the money out of your account and into a Premier League club. Newcastle United is the chosen name. The Saudis are offering the previous owner Mike Ashley (55) CHF 362 million. The deal is nearing completion, according to British newspapers. He was threaded by Amanda Staveley (47), who had already wrapped up the takeover of Manchester City in dry wipes.
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In Newcastle, however, the fans are not in each other’s arms. Not only because of social distancing rules in corona times. But also because MbS does not have the best reputation. According to The Economist, he is de facto holder of power in Saudi Arabia, even though his father Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz (84) sits on the throne.
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MbS wants to liberalize society, violations of human rights are still the order of the day in Saudi Arabia, as Amnesty International reports. These include torture as punishment, discrimination against women or no right to freedom of expression. Then there was the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi († 59) in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in which there are many indications that MbS was significantly involved.
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There will be isolated protests in Newcastle against the new super rich of the Premier League. But at the latest when the first football superstars set off in England’s northeast, the critical tones become quieter and the hymns of praise become louder. Newcastle should grow up. And hated. (say)
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picture alliance / ZB / euroluftbi
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Mohammed bin Salman lives in the Château Louis XIV, which he bought in 2015 for CHF 300 million.
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