There is more to West Ham director Tripp Smith’s West Ham investment than at first meets the eye.
We were initially told last September that Smith’s 10% investment was a private investment and the American’s interest was akin to a hobby and not part of some elaborate takeover plan. We were told he is a private man who shies away from publicity.
A deeper look into Smith’s background asks more questions than it gives answers .
The former Wall Street guy who worked at Credit Suisse founded GSO Capital Partners in 2005 which was later sold to the Blackstone Group in 2008 for nearly $1 billion.
Smith is an expert in finance raising billions from investors in complicated financial transactions which include Mezzanine financing, rescue financing and leveraged loans including takeovers of companies.
In March this year, he announced he was stepping down from the Blackstone Group this June after 13 years at the helm of GSO Partners – which interestingly more or less coincides with the end of this football season.
Smith bought into West Ham last September buying a ten percent shareholding for an undisclosed sum as part of a package. That package included loaning West Ham £9.5m interest-free which is only payable on change of ownership.
We are supposed to believe that Smith is just a friend of David Sullivan who just likes ‘Soccer’ and there is no agenda but it’s very clear he would be an ideal candidate to raise hundreds of millions for a possible future takeover bid.
What better place to understand the value of the club and its finances than from the inside by buying a seat on the board for his ten percent investment?
We are sure this is not the last you hear of the Tripp Smith story, whether Microsoft Co-founder Paul Allen is a friend or Smith’s or not is irrelevant as Smith would have no problems in finding other investors with uber wealth who trust him.
We can but dream
Or it could be another of Sully’s annual announcements designed to get the season ticket renewals in, a sort of ‘marquee signing’ announcement we’ve all heard a few times before in an attempt to keep potentially disgruntled fans, sorry customers, happy?
No – why would a man who has made fortunes out of investment loans give him £10 million with the clause he doesn’t want it back til there’s a takeover and he’s an expert in takeovers? It’s how he’s made his billions. Don’t be too Sully obsessed ‘Mary’ despite your pseudynom 🙂
And just to point out Sully hasn’t announced anything unless you are assuming WRONGLY I am announcing it for him
I hope he lends him more interest free, I can’t see them selling up before 2023 if that is when the sell on swaps over, it would be nice to see more quality signings like 3 of Arnautovic’s quality or better during the window if we stay up.
Thanks Sean for this relevant and upbeat piece.
As soon as I heard about Tripp and Blackstone, I got very excited and was considering writing an article on him. In addition to Trippy, there are a ton of ‘mega wealthy’ CEO’s at Blackstone who may look carefully at a potential investment with the London Stadium and West Ham. In addition there are other wealthy geezers (non-Blacktone) who love sports, and have already invested in a variety of sporting sites within the US and elsewhere. Look what the Glazer Family did for Man U!? Any person who is worth 3-5 billion, enjoys football, and has an ounce of philanthropic spirit within, could be just what we need in such awful times. We need owner(s) who are ready to give the incumbent manager 250-300 million quid/year for summer transfer signings. Imagine it-regularly finishing in the top 6 and playing in Europa or Championship football. More than just a dream, but requires the end of the Dildo Brothers reign.