This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.

https://www.wsj.com/world/uk/the-billionaire-tycoon-who-cant-stop-buying-sports-teams-a275860b

The Billionaire Tycoon Who Can’t Stop Buying Sports Teams

Jim Ratcliffe is about to purchase 25% of English soccer behemoth Manchester United. He’s becoming one of the world’s most influential armchair sports fans.

Jim Ratcliffe at the Monaco Grand Prix in May. His holdings include a stake in the Mercedes Formula One team. XPB Images/Zuma Press

By Joshua Robinson

Updated Oct. 20, 2023 12:00 am ET

Jim Ratcliffe, the British petrochemicals billionaire, was on a 5,000-mile motorcycle journey through the Andes a few years ago and feeling pretty bored with the state of sports. No one was really going after the biggest barriers in human performance anymore, he thought. What was even left?

Then, somewhere on the road in Argentina, he settled on a sporting achievement that actually excited him: Ratcliffe wanted to see someone run a marathon in under 2 hours. So he hired some of the best scientists in sports and the best marathoner in the world to make it happen. And in 2019, on a closed course in Vienna, Eliud Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in 1 hour and 59 minutes.

Continue reading your article with
a WSJ subscription

Subscribe Now

Already a subscriber? Sign In