Sunderland have made a positive start to the new season as the club eyes a return to the Premier League.
The Black Cats are in their third year back in the Championship, having come sixth and 16th in the previous two campaigns.
Régis Le Bris was brought in as the new head coach over the summer with the goal of bringing the team back towards promotion contention.
Sunderland haven’t been in the top flight since 2017, and since owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has taken over at the Stadium of Light.
The Swiss-French businessman will be hoping that the team can be competitive again this year after a difficult last 12 months.
Here we compare the 26-year-old’s net worth to the 20 owners of the Premier League…
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ net worth
The Sunderland owner is the youngest in the Championship, and has been in charge of the Black Cats since purchasing a minority stake in the club in 2021.
He has since been named the Wearside outfit’s chairman, having increased his stake in the club to 64 percent in May 2023.
According to the Sunderland Echo, Louis-Dreyfus is believed to be worth £2 billion.
He is the heir to the Louis-Dreyfus fortune, built by his late father through the Louis Dreyfus Group.
His father had experience in football as well, having owned French giants Marseille until his death in 2009.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus currently owns a five percent stake in the Ligue 1 club, having gone to games with his father as a child.
He will be keen to see the club back in the Premier League soon, with it now being seven years since the Black Cats were in the top division.
Louis-Dreyfus’ wealth was passed down to him, with his father Robert building a Swiss commodities empire which valued him as a billionaire.
This makes Kyril Louis-Dreyfus one of the wealthiest owners in the EFL.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ wealth compared to Premier League owners
Compared to even some of the owners in the Premier League, the Sunderland chairman remains one of the wealthiest.
Two Premier League owners can only class themselves as millionaires, including Nottingham Forest’s Evangelos Marinakis and Brentford’s Matthew Benham.
According to figures taken from GiveMeSport, the pair are worth £479 million and £216.3 million respectively.
| Premier League owners that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is wealthier than (per Give Me Sport) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner (Club) | Net Worth (£) | ||
| William Foley (Bournemouth) | 1.24 billion | ||
| Tony Bloom (Brighton) | 1 billion | ||
| Sport Republic, Katharina Liebherr (Southampton) | 1 billion | ||
| Evangelos Marinakis (Nottingham Forest) | 479 million | ||
| Matthew Benham (Brentford) | 216.3 million | ||
There are also three other Premier League owners with a wealth that is exceeded by Louis-Dreyfus.
Bournemouth’s William Foley is worth £1.24 billion, with Brighton’s Tony Bloom and Southampton’s Sport Republic and Katharina Liebherr worth £1 billion each.
Sunderland’s bitter rivals Newcastle United top the ownership wealth chart, with the Saudi Public Investment Fund reportedly worth £478 billion.
But ownership wealth is not an indicator of on-pitch success, with the Magpies yet to win any trophies under this ownership, with their best league finish being a fourth place in 2023.
Manchester United are second in that table, with the Glazers and Jim Ratcliffe being worth a combined £19.2 billion, and Aston Villa round out the top three, with Wes Edend and Nassef Sawiris being worth £13.8 billion combined.
Sunderland would rank 16th in this table if included, which they’ll be hoping to be next season if they can hold onto a top two position all the way until May.
