How wealthy the Norwich City owner is compared to the EFL's richest clubs | OneFootball

How wealthy is Norwich City owner Mark Attanasio in comparison to the rest of the EFL?

American businessman Mark Attanasio took over Norwich City in August 2022, and has been working hard to return the Canaries to the Premier League.

The American has been heavily involved with sports ownership throughout his working life, becoming the owner of the MLB side, Milwaukee Brewers, over 20 years ago.

After overseeing plenty of success on the baseball scene, Attanasio set his sights on English football, and decided to acquire a minority share in the Norfolk-based side in 2022. He increased his shareholding in Norwich to 40% in April 2024, which saw him become the joint-majority shareholder of the club along with Delia Smith.

After Smith sold her share later in the year, Attanasio was now the sole majority shareholder of the East Anglian side. But how rich exactly is the new owner? And how does his wealth compare to the rest of the EFL clubs?

Mark Attanasio's net worth

Attanasio has certainly been around the block in his career, having begun his pathway to becoming wealthy after graduating from Columbia Law School in 1982. The 67-year-old co-founded a Los Angeles-based alternative investment firm, Crescent Capital Group, in 1991.

He sold this company just four years later to Trust Company of the West, where the Bronx-born investor remained as a senior executive. The main source of Attanasio's wealth came in 2001, when Société Générale purchased TCW for an estimated $1.3bn.

As mentioned, the American then tried his hand in sports ownership, purchasing the Milwaukee Brewers for a reported $200m in September 2004. This was a childhood dream that had turned into reality for the businessman, who'd been dreaming of owning a MLB team.

20 years, eight titles, and the purchase of Norwich later, Attanasio's net worth is now estimated to be around $700m. Whilst this sum of money is very impressive, how does his net worth compare to his EFL competitors?

How Attanasio's wealth compares to the rest of the EFL

Buying an English football club has become somewhat of a trend in recent years for wealthy foreign businessmen, with plenty of clubs now having strong financial backing, which makes for some exciting tales of clubs rising through the lower leagues.

It's worth noting though that an owner's net worth means little in the grand scheme of things if they aren't willing to spend the money. An example of this is Reading's Dai Yongge, who has let his club rot rather than invest.

Queens Park Rangers are believed to have the richest owners in the EFL, with their owners having a combined net worth of £15bn. They're followed by Leeds United, Stoke City, Bristol City, Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End, and Portsmouth. All of these clubs have owners estimated to be worth over $1bn.

Attanasio is the second-richest non-billionaire owner in the second tier, behind only Vincent Tan of Cardiff, who is worth $30m more than the American. This makes him the tenth-richest owner in the Championship, as far as estimates are concerned.

There are also five League One clubs with wealthier owners than the Canaries. According to estimates, Birmingham City, Barnsley, Wycombe Wanderers, Wigan Athletic, and Reading's owners all trump Attanasio's $700m net worth, with all of them bar the Royals having billionaires at the helm. This would make Attanasio the 15th richest owner out of the 72 EFL clubs.