David Sullivan could theoretically sell his shares in West Ham at a £1bn valuation, football finance expert Kieran Maguire tells TBR Football.

Last month, the West Ham Fan Advisory Board in coalition with 11 supporters’ groups submitted a vote of no confidence in the board, citing sporting, commercial and cultural problems at the club.

Graham Potter has since been dismissed as manager, replaced with Nuno Espirito Santo, whose first match in charge was Monday evening’s draw at Everton.

The setting, a much-vaunted Hill Dickinson Stadium in its first match under the lights, was seen as ironic by many Hammers’ fans given their own issues with the London Stadium since the move in 2016.

The stadium, for which the club pays a peppercorn rent, was positioned as the vehicle that would give West Ham the financial muscle to compete near the top of the Premier League.

Matchday income has risen from £29m in the last season at Upton Park to £44m in the most recent season on record, but the so-called Big Six have accelerated ticketing income far, far faster.

Commercial growth – sponsorship, merchandise and so on – historically has been slow too, though there was a significant jump from £48m to £58m between 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The riposte from the club is that David Sullivan and Karen Brady’s regime have been restrained in terms of price rises in comparison to some of their peers, though that is in part thanks to campaigns from fans.

But the divide between the club’s executive branch and the fans is deeper than any one single issue. In the view of many, it is unfixable, and the only way forward is the sale of the club.

West Ham’s ownership structure is one of the most complex in the Premier League, with no single majority shareholder.

Sullivan owns just less than 39 per cent of the equity, followed by Daniel Kretinsky’s 1890s Holdings with 27 per cent. A further 25 per cent is held by David Gold’s estate, while Albert Tripp Smith’s stake is around eight per cent.

Sullivan turned down a £650m bid from Red Bull back in 2016, and a consortium led by Phillip Bear saw a somewhat slapdash proposal rejected five years later.

Qatari sovereign wealth has often been mooted as a suitor too. Before taking over Everton, Dan Friedkin’s investment vehicle explored the Hammers too. A more outlandish option? Shaquille O’Neal, the NBA legend, was linked with acquiring a minority stake last summer.

At present, the only equity seemingly for sale is Vanessa Gold’s. The daughter of the late David Gold wants to offload some, though not all, of her inherited shares.

But how much would the club cost to buy outright?

Maguire, a football finance lecturer at Liverpool University, exclusively told TBR Football: “I think with a 60,000-seater stadium, the London location, being subsidised by the London taxpayer, we’re looking at £1bn.

“That was the figure that Karen Brady has quoted to people, and that was a few years ago. On the pitch, things aren’t great, true. But as a Premier League club, they have a lot of positives.”

And the profile of investor?

“I’ve heard Kretinsky could buy West Ham if he wanted to,” says Maguire, “but it’s not his usual modus operandi, and I’m not sure he wants the possibility.

“Private equity would lap it up. You have the Olympic Stadium, genuine cockneys – there is so much to market there. That is the way that an investor would look at it.“

Private equity – a type of investment vehicle that pools money from limited partners, buys businesses, cuts costs, boosts enterprise value and sells on for a return – is going all-in on European football.

As well as the like Chelsea, Leeds United and the Milan clubs being majority owned by PE firms, minority investments in and debt financing for Premier League sides are now also commonplace.

The private equity market is dominated by the United States, and Maguire suggests that the summer of 2026 could open the floodgates in terms of PE interest in West Ham and their peers in English football.

“If America has a good World Cup, I think it could be very good for club owners this side of the Atlantic. It will stir appetites and we could see another wave of investment in English clubs.”