The owner of Southampton, Dragan Solak was at St. Mary’s to watch his Premier League team defeat Brentford 4-1 in a league game on Tuesday, January 11, 2021.
Recall that about a week ago, Southampton confirmed via a statement that Solak, a Serbian billionaire has bought an 80 percent stake in the club through his company, the Sports Republic. Hence, he is the new owner of the Premier League club.
The deal that made the Serbian billionaire the new owner of Southampton was reportedly worth £100 million.
Before now, Chinese businessman, Gao Jisheng was the owner of Southampton. The Chinese billionaire was the owner of the club between 2017 and 2022. He decided to sell his 80 percent stake in the club due to the persistent agitation of the club’s fans against the perceived low investment he made in the club’s squad.
As it stands, Dragan Solak would have to work with Katharina Liebherr who currently owns a 20 percent stake in the club.
On Tuesday, Solak decided to go and watch his new club play in the Premier League. Fortunately for him, the team gave him a pleasant welcome by scoring four goals and conceding just one.
The league game against Brentford was the first home game Southampton played since the Serbian businessman became the owner of the club. The 4-1 win at St Mary’s has taken the home team to the 11th spot on the league table.
So far this season, Southampton has won 5 games, drawn 9 times, and recorded 6 defeats in 20 Premier League games which earned them 24 points.
What we know about Dragan Solak, the new owner of Southampton
Dragan Solak is a 57-year-old Serbian businessman and media mogul who is often referred to as the first billionaire from Serbia.
In 2000, he started his telecommunications company in Serbia. From his country, he expanded the company to 8 other countries.
Some of Dragan Solak’s channels have the Premier League TV broadcasting rights. He also owns a company known as Eligo which provides exclusive access to golf courses.
Reports claimed that his company earns £1.67 billion in revenue every year. The Serbian businessman owns three private jets which he always use to fly around the world.
He is currently the chairman of Sports Republic, the company through which he acquired the ownership of Southampton. The company is said to be set to become a big football network as big as Red Bull (owners of RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg, New York Red Bulls) and City group (owners of Manchester City, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, and many others).
When he added Southampton to his list of numerous businesses, Dragan Solak said: “My partners and I have experience in long-term investments in the sports and entertainment industry and the Sports Republic has been founded to combine this expertise and deliver something unique to the market.
“Southampton has so many of the qualities we have been looking for in a major sports organization. It has a great management team, excellent talent development, talented teams playing attractive football, and a dedicated fan base.”
“We are delighted to be able to complete this acquisition as the first step towards execution of our investment strategy. Southampton will be a cornerstone of the organization we plan to build.”
