£28bn Staveley Backers Still Have Their Eyes on Stratford | West Ham News

By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)

On the face of it, an 88-year-old billionaire moving from London to Monaco doesn’t have an awful lot to do with West Ham United.

However, when that billionaire is David Reuben, things become a little more interesting.

According to The Times, the property tycoon and Newcastle United shareholder moved from Holland Park to Monaco during the summer, joining his brother Simon, who has lived in the principality for around 40 years.

The Reuben brothers and their family were ranked second on this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with a combined fortune of almost £28bn.

And the reason that should prick the ears of West Ham supporters is Amanda Staveley.

Staveley and the Reubens go back a long way

Staveley and the Reuben family were, of course, partners in the consortium which purchased Newcastle United in 2021.

Staveley and PCP Capital Partners subsequently sold their Newcastle stake in 2024, while the Reubens remain involved through RB Sports & Media, which owns 15% of the club.

The Reubens have remained among a number of wealthy backers associated with Staveley and PCP Capital Partners, which is why their name continues to be interesting from a West Ham perspective.

Any attempt by them to become directly involved in the ownership of another English football club would clearly have to address their existing Newcastle interest first.

That becomes particularly relevant given Staveley’s continuing interest in West Ham. As Claret & Hugh revealed last month, a source close to Staveley told us not to consider her Hammers ambitions finished despite Daniel Křetínský blocking her route to Vanessa Gold’s shares.

We’ve also been informed that there remains considerable motivation among people surrounding Staveley’s bid to get their hands on the Olympic Stadium site.

That matters because this has never appeared to be purely about buying a football club.

The Stratford connection is difficult to ignore

Staveley has made little secret of the fact that her next football investment would include what she described as a “big property play”, something we’ve previously examined in relation to her plans for the London Stadium.

And that’s where the Reuben connection becomes even more intriguing.

The brothers have considerable history in the area surrounding West Ham’s home.

Long before the 2012 Olympics arrived in Stratford, the Reubens held a 50% interest in the development rights for Stratford City, part of the enormous regeneration project surrounding the future Olympic site.

Their involvement eventually ended when Westfield bought out the other parties in 2006, but the point remains: these are not property investors unfamiliar with Stratford or the potential value of developing land in that part of east London.

As I’ve written previously on Claret & Hugh, that history becomes difficult to ignore when placed alongside Staveley’s stated desire for a football investment containing a significant property element.

Does leaving Britain change anything?

There is another aspect to David Reuben’s move which I find interesting.

He is one of a number of extremely wealthy people who have moved away from Britain, with The Times reporting an increasing number of billionaires relocating amid changes to the UK’s tax regime.

That doesn’t mean for one moment that Reuben has suddenly lost interest in investing in Britain. Moving your personal residence to Monaco and deciding where a global property empire invests its billions are clearly two very different things.

But it does raise an interesting question.

If part of Staveley’s attraction to West Ham is the potential to acquire and redevelop the London Stadium site, could the changing financial and tax environment in Britain make that investment less attractive to some of the billionaires backing her?

Or does the sheer scale of the Stratford opportunity mean it makes absolutely no difference?

Staveley still wants a route into West Ham. Claret & Hugh has been told there remains motivation to acquire the Olympic Stadium site, and the Reubens have the financial firepower, the relationship with Staveley and a property history in Stratford stretching back more than 20 years.