DAZN mogul Sir Len Blavatnik has fallen from the #1 spot in the latest Sunday Times Rich List, revealed on Friday.
The annual rundown on the wealthiest people in the UK had Blavatnik on top of the pile in early 2021, with a fortune estimated at $23billion (just under $29billion).
Since then, per the widely respected Rich List, things have not gone quite so well for the 64-year-old, who holds U.S. and British citizenship. This year he comes in at #4 – down three places – with a reduced estimated wealth of $20billion.
Why did Blavatnik lose top spot?
A fall in the share price of Warner Music is reportedly not good news for Blavatnik’s Access Industries, which now has a stake in the entertainment business worth £8.6million – down around £3.5billion.
The other thing which impacted Blavatnik’s wealth this year – per the Rich List – is that refinancing of DAZN, which was announced in February.
The £3.79billion recapitalisation saw DAZN’s huge losses so far wiped off and the company moved to a status of debt-free.
DAZN splashing the cash
Blavatnik and DAZN have spent eye-popping sums of cash since launching 2016 as the self-styled ‘Netflix Of Sports’.
DAZN initially set up shop in Germany and Japan before a high-profile move into the U.S. market with boxing at the forefront. Massive deals with promoter Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, and with boxing’s P4P king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, sent shockwaves through the sport.
Only this week DAZN renewed its partnership with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Boxing for a reported further three years.
DAZN of course now is swimming in the competitive waters of the UK streaming market with Hearn again at the forefront. Hearn announced last year that Matchroom was ending its hugely successful association with Sky Sports to make his partnership with DAZN a global one.
