In Lewis' case, he is most definitely in it for capital gain. The guy is a hard nosed businessman through & through. People who say "Well, he's got all this money, why would he do this to make more money?" Fail to understand the nature of people like Lewis. I would virtually guarantee you that Joe Lewis has very little interest in football: he does, however, still have a healthy interest in making money.
And as Boss has suggested, if there is no real financial/personal imperative on Lewis' part to move things along, Spurs supporters better find something other than their hair to tear out every March-May for the next few seasons. Perhaps I can wager a pound with Joe on a financial spread betting exchange that if Spurs do not get two consecutive CL appearances in the next 4 seasons, he signs over ENIC to me.
If you look at the clubs Enic owned they all have big support but have underachieved in terms of European/World profile. Exactly the type of business an investor looks for ie plenty of scope for growth. As the PL became richer it would make sense to concentrate on the club they had in it. I believe the reason cited for taking Spurs off the 'City' was that it makes it easier to attract investors for the new stadium. It would appear that this stadium move is 'the added value' they would look for plus of course appearances in the CL. If they can time these two together ie CL and the New Stadium that would be the optimum time to sell. So Levy has the job of financing both in the most profitable way. Incidently AVB is probably easier for Levy to get to play this game than Harry would have been and could have been the major reason for manager change. It's clear I think that in the last couple of seasons money has been put aside for the Stadium rather than all reinvested in players. The long term policy of buying young players with good potential sell on is another factor in Levy's strategy. If I'm right I would expect Spurs to be sold in the next 5 years or so.
RE the taking Spurs back from The City it also removes the threat of an agressive takover if the Spurs 'plan' begins to work. Obviously Enic do not want to miss out on their years of work by losing control at the moment of maximum value.
I have moved the comments started by Sidney's post to a new thread because A I think it merits one. And B it's not really about Spurs v Fulham. Hope everyone involved approves.
Uncle Joe was/is a very successful commodities trader. He very rarely got it wrong. He would take big risks, but only usually when the odds were in his favour. You can bet that he will sell his stake in the club when he thinks he has maximised his profit potential.
De-listing the PLC was mainly done because no institutional investors are really buying into football (especially on the AIM exchange) . As ENIC at that point owned 80% of the shares, the other 20% (who were probably supporters that bought in during the initial share offering in 1984) could at worst only be "nuisances" on any decision-making by the board. Also it lessens the regulatory stuff the law requires THFC to do (PLCs have to do much more than a basic Ltd co on the paperwork/reporting side) . If Spurs go onwards and upwards, and the markets get interested, then ENIC could return the club to a PLC again. Anyway, this discussion has probably if anything emphasised the difference in pace of progression that ENIC are happy with, and that which the supporters demand (based on the PL consolidation these past 7 yrs) .
Yes. This whole subject came up because Smithy No9 wondered if ENIC were interested in the club in other than a financial sense. In my opinion, the answer is clearly No. There is still more profit potential, especially with the increase in revenues from both the new TV deal & the continued growth in global interest in the PL. I don't expect Lewis to sell anytime soon: unless the men from the sands come waving a ridiculously large cheque. As you say, if supporters expect Lewis' aims & ambitions for the club to be along the same lines as their own, they will be sadly disappointed, I fear.
When you consider the massive sums available to teams who progress in the CL- and the spins offs in commercial revenues- it wouldn't make any sense to withhold funding on players, wages etc which could ensure the club has the best chance to finish 3rd or 4th rather than 5th or 6th. Spending doesn't have to be reckless, but some risks have to be taken. I'm sure ENIC recognise that and will back AVB with transfer funds in the summer, whilst resisting offers for the star players. The one important issue which seems to have lost momentum recently is the development of the ground/building of a new stadium. You can't compete regularly with the top sides in the PL or Europe if your stadium is half the size of many other clubs, unless you have a benefactor like City or Chelsea. Any future business plans for Spurs must surely have this top of the agenda. Many smaller clubs have benefited greatly from building a new stadium or revamping the existing ground.
I wouldn't disagree Luke. As I said earlier, Lewis is not alien to, or afraid of, risk taking. But, he only makes bets that he is pretty sure he will win. As the majority shareholder, the call is his. I expect that a sum of money will be made available to AVB this summer.
Strange that.It seems only yesterday White Hart Lane held 50,000 to 60,000 on lots of occasions until some nasty man came along and said "siddown!"
Joe Lewis is one of those people referred to as "wealth creators" Of course they only create wealth for themselves In a way he is worse than Abramovich or the Mansours because they want to win trophies while he just cares about money
Parasites, greedy bastards, whatever you want to call them. Whilst far from being a laudable trait, that is the nature of people like Lewis. How many people do you know who say something like, "if I had a million, that's enough for me, I'd retire?" Well, unless they win the lottery, the chances are those people will never make a million - they don't have the drive, hunger, whatever to make it. What drove Lewis to make that first million, is what continues to drive him to this day. The money, as such, is obviously not going to make any material difference to his lifestyle. However, it is proof to him that he is the winner - and that's why the money is still important to him.
" As you say, if supporters expect Lewis' aims & ambitions for the club to be along the same lines as their own, they will be sadly disappointed, I fear." They are on the same lines, in that on-pitch success is needed by Lewis, and anticipated by the supporters. Where they differ is in the timescales may be quite glacial for ENIC, and yesterday for the supporters. The one thing that remains is the notion of window of opportunity. If we are right, and ENIC blows it, then not injecting a bit of their own cash to get thru that window may kill their financial end game dead for much longer than their current "long term" is.
"How many people do you know who say something like, "if I had a million, that's enough for me, I'd retire?" Well, unless they win the lottery, the chances are those people will never make a million - they don't have the drive, hunger, whatever to make it." I reckon I can do it with a 400,000 pot. I am at least 150K short (all donations welcome ) . I don't have the above "whatever" anymore to work all year no matter how crap the work is, purely to get that money.
Spurm : My workings are on the basis of what guaranteed minimum post-tax return would a bank give you for your cash. In days of yore, a million quid got you 10% interest pre-tax. So 100K a year. With the current tax regime that would result in about 65K a year. My target would be to try and get 30K post tax pa as a minimum.
