Mark Walter has explored selling his stake in Chelsea FC to Clearlake Capital, the private equity firm that already holds majority control of the London club. Sportico valued Chelsea at $4bn. Clearlake owns roughly 61.5%, with Walter, former Guggenheim executive Todd Boehly, and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss holding the remainder directly or through linked investment vehicles. Walter's stake stood at 16% in 2024, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Clearlake and Boehly led a consortium that bought the club from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in 2022 for about £2.5bn. In September 2024, the two lead owners began assessing whether they could buy each other out, after falling out over the club's direction following a period of heavy spending led by Boehly. Clearlake has since become increasingly involved in running Chelsea, which won the lucrative revamped Club World Cup in 2025 but has struggled in the Premier League.

Should Walter exit to Clearlake, the firm's operational control would grow tighter still. TWG Global has been pursuing a range of transactions to clean up loans on his insurers' balance sheet that have drawn scrutiny from federal prosecutors. Only last week, Walter agreed to sell the LA Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for a record $12.5bn.

Despite being consistently loss-making, Premier League clubs have become increasingly valuable. The revaluation was underscored last week when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos joined a consortium taking a stake in Liverpool FC in a deal valuing that club at around $6bn. Real Madrid, the world's most valuable club, is valued at roughly $7.7bn, with Barcelona and Manchester United at about $6.5bn, according to Sportico.