How did Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah make his money?

It was an incredibly successful season on the pitch for Sheffield United.

The Blades won promotion back to the Premier League after a two-year absence as they sealed second place in the Championship, while they also enjoyed an excellent FA Cup run, reaching the semi-finals of the competition where they lost 3-0 to Manchester City after a spirited display at Wembley.

Paul Heckingbottom achieved this success against a backdrop of uncertainty amid months of delay to the club’s proposed takeover by Dozy Mmobuosi.

Businessman Mmobuosi had a bid accepted to buy the club in December, but there has been little progress since then with concerns regarding his actual wealth after the value of his company Tingo reportedly dropped by 94% in a year, although Mmobuosi insists he is still committed to completing his takeover.

The Blades are beginning preparations for life in the top flight under current owner Prince Abdullah and we have looked at how he made his money.

How has Prince Abdullah’s ownership of Sheffield United gone?

It has to be said that Prince Abdullah’s ownership of the club has largely been a success.

He became involved with the Blades in September 2013, buying a 50% stake in the club.

After numerous failed play-off campaigns, United finally won promotion from League One in 2017.

That same year, a battle between Prince Abdullah and co-owner Kevin McCabe began, but despite the continuing off-the-field tensions, the Blades enjoyed further success on the pitch, achieving promotion to the Premier League in 2019.

The ownership issues reached the High Court and after McCabe was denied permission to appeal the ruling ordering him to sell his shares, Prince Abdullah became the sole owner of the club.

United had an outstanding first season in the top flight, finishing ninth in the table, but they struggled the following year and were relegated after finishing bottom.

Heckingbottom led the Blades to the play-offs last term, missing out in the semi-finals to Nottingham Forest, but he went one step further this campaign and led them to promotion as runners-up.

Prince Abdullah confirmed last month that he still intends to sell the club but he admitted it is unlikely to be to Mmobuosi.

“To sell is my intention but nothing is guaranteed,” Prince Abdullah told talkSPORT, quoted by the BBC.

“I’m not going to sell to just anybody. I care about who owns the club next,” he added.

How did Prince Abdullah make his money?

Prince Abdullah founded a paper manufacturing company in Saudi Arabia in 1989 called the SPMC Group and it became one of the largest companies in the Middle East before he sold his shares in 2016.

He was the chairman of Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal between 2002 and 2004 and has involvements with a number of other teams, in addition to the Blades, including Beerschot, La Berrichonne de Châteauroux, and Kerala United.

Prince Abdullah’s fortune has been rumoured to be worth $18 billion, but he insisted he is not a billionaire.

“I’ve read the coverage about me buying United and seen the stereotype, again, of a Saudi who can call upon $18bn,” Prince Abdullah told the Daily Mail after buying the club in 2013. “I tell you what. If I WAS worth $18bn, I would have bought the 49ers and Arsenal!

“Because I don’t have $18bn I thought I’d buy a club in the Championship, develop it, and try to take it to the Premier League.

“I looked at many clubs over the past few years. I looked at other clubs at Championship level but when United’s chairman, Kevin McCabe, came to my house in Riyadh and told me he didn’t want me to give him anything for himself for half the club, but just to invest in the club to try to get it to the Premier League, I realised this was the club, even in League One.”