Who is Sheikh Jassim? Net worth, family of Qatari banker bidding to win takeover race at Man United
Widespread reports on October 14 said that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani had withdrawn from the bidding process for Manchester United.
Transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano claimed that the final bid had been worth almost double the $3.5 billion market valuation of the club, and said the Sheikh had planned an extra $1.5bn of investment. Sky News was among the outlets to announce that they also understood the offer had been withdrawn.
The protracted takeover process has rumbled on in the background at United ever since the Glazers announced last November that they were seeking new investment in the club they took over in 2005, either in the form of a minority stake or a full sale.
There appeared to be two most likely outcomes: the American family reject offers to sell the club, but potentially sell some shares; or, they accept an offer from one of the frontrunners to take over outright at Old Trafford. Those frontrunners had been Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim.
As a more prominent public figure, plenty is known already about Oldham-born Ratcliffe, the billionaire CEO of petrochemical giant INEOS who was named by Forbes as the 67th richest person in the world in 2023.
Sheikh Jassim, however, is a much less famous figure.
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Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani is a member of the Qatari royal family and the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), the largest bank in Qatar.
Sheikh Jassim grew up alongside the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. They both went to boarding school in the UK before attending Sandhurst, an esteemed military academy in England. Sheikh Jassim graduated as an officer cadet, according to the limited information published by the company overseeing his bid to buy
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