Part 3 - Arsenal shareholders who’s who

So who’s who in the Arsenal ownership game? Let’s start with some figures courtesy of John Pickford who has been a student of The Arsenal’s share ownership for some time. (1) Danny Fiszman owns 15,000 shares (24.11%)
(2) Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith 9,893 (15.9%)
(3) Richard Carr 2,722 (4.37%) grandson of former chairman Sir Bracewell-Smith
(4) Peter Hill-Wood 500 (0.8%) Chairman
(5) The other board members: Chips Keswick, Lord Harris of Peckham, Keith Edelman own a total of 145 (0.23%) because Ken Friar gave his back to Peter Hill-Wood fairly recently

The above comprise the current Arsenal Board of Directors and their combined shareholding is 37,991 (or 45.42% of the total shares)

The other principle shareholders are:

(6) David Dein 9,072 (14.58%) our ex Vice-Chairman
(7) KSE Ltd & Stan Kroenke 7,584 (12.19%)
(8) Lansdowne Holdings 1,675 (2.7%) maybe more
(9) Morgan Stanley Investments 1,000 (1.6%) or maybe more
(10) Clive Carr 1,120 (1.8%) AFC Life Vice-President and grandson of a former chairman Sir Bracewell-Smith
(11) Birol Nadir / Crystalix & friends (circa 7%) son of Asil Nadir the ‘Polly Peck’ crook who fled the country owing millions. Although these shares may by now have been unloaded
(12) Sarah Margaret Phibbs-Bagge (circa 2%) formerly Sarah Carr and half sister of Richard Carr
(13) Geoffrey Klass of Herbie Frogg Menswear fame 1,006 (alleged to be a friend of David Dein)
(14) Sir Roger Gibb 200 (0.32%) another ex Director
(15) Out there 6,702 (circa) (10.77%)

The above figures compiled by John come from a number of sources and are probably a tad out of date now, but give or take a few percentage points here or there they are pretty accurate as has been confirmed to me by other informed sources. Chances are however the hedge funds such as Lansdowne & Morgan Stanley have increased their holdings.

Our 71 year-old Chairman is Peter Hill-Wood. His shares come via his grandfather Sir Samuel who moved to London back in the 1920’s. Peter sold shares to David Dein in 1983 (16.6% of the Club for £292,000) which was prior to football’s financial boom. Peter is what most of us would regard as very old school tie being an Old Etonian and ex Vice Chairman of Hambros Bank. He’s always tried not to interfere too much because he realises that the people doing the jobs they are paid to do for the Club know more about football than himself. That said he is prone to getting caught by journalists after a ‘heavy lunch’ because they know he is often liable to put his foot in it. As he unwisely did with his unfortunate quote ‘we don’t want his sort' squarely aimed at Stan Kroenke. This was a fairly standard gaff by Peter but exceedingly badly timed. His is a small shareholding in the scheme of things and you have to suspect that he is the Club Chairman either by default or because quite simply none of the others wanted the job. Effectively he probably inherited the job along with the shares. Had he kept the shares he sold to DD his shareholding would have been worth megabucks today.

Danny Fiszman (aged 62) and 351st on the Sunday Times Rich List made his many millions in the diamond trade. He is our biggest single shareholder having bought most of his shares from David Dein, mainly, it is believed, when Dein was a little strapped for cash. Quite why Danny fairly recently reduced his shareholding to 15,000 is a mystery, but some theorise that he may have been attempting to flush out what was at the time a mystery buyer. Others say he was somewhat bizarrely taking out the worth of his original investment which was comparative peanuts. Some have suggested he perhaps thinks he’s done as much as he can for the Club and now is the time to bail out. Regardless of why he sold the timing was very strange. Danny is an alleged fan who may well have burnt himself out working so seriously hard to deliver the impossible dream, namely a new state of the art stadium on the doorstep of the old one. He is now a tax exile living in Switzerland and as such will probably see far less football than he used to. But living abroad doesn’t stop people being fans, nor does it mean that overseas shareholders are any more likely to sell. On the other hand some fellow fans question his ‘Arsenal fan’ credentials prior to his share ownership as it wasn’t particularly evident. Since he sold a few of his shares that ended up with Kroenke he has given a rare interview intimating the board have sufficient ‘friends’ amongst the non-directors to prevent a takeover. That said the sale of shares which reduced Fiszman’s stake to less than 25% resulted in a loss of his veto rights over any future changes to the company statutes. It has also been noted that his recent move abroad will substantially reduced any Capital Gains Tax liability that would come with a sale of his stake in the Club. Danny apparently fell out with David over the new stadium and it appears that they are no longer pals.

Islington born Ken Friar was the Club Secretary before he became Managing Director in 1973. Having retired when Keith Edelman took over he was dragged back out of retirement to help deliver our new home, on which he did a brilliant job. A total Arsenal man who recently returned some, seemingly on loan, shares for nothing to Peter Hill-Wood. Seemingly they’d been loaned to him so he could become a Director. There is nothing sinister in that, although perhaps the timing could have been better. Ken has recently been dragged back to work for Arsenal yet again, this time to assist Wenger until Dein’s replacement can be found.

Sir John Chippendale "Chips" Lindley Keswick (67) non-executive director, Old Etonian and member of the Jardine dynasty. Formerly a Director of Hambros Bank along with Peter Hill-Wood and believed to have been recruited to the board to assist with the financing of our new stadium.

Philip Charles Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham (65) non-executive director. Chairman of Carpetright and ranked 206th in The Sunday Times Rich List (2006) with an estimated wealth of £285m. A recent addition to the board.

Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, another non-executive director and recent addition to the board. Formerly a director of the Sheraton Hotel, has inherited her shares and is a relative newcomer to football. She has admitted that she knew nothing about the game until recently but now loves it. Lady Nina was presumably invited onto the Board because she owns 15% of the shares and as such is the second largest shareholder. A lady of mystery then and an unknown quantity, but the Bracewell-Smith family, which she married into, have been part of Arsenal’s set-up for generations. Some suspect that she is very far from being the know-nothing, disinterested individual some have portrayed her as; word is that she may be a very clever lady. I do hope so.

David Dein (64) became Vice Chairman in 1984 and is no longer a Director but it has without doubt been his drive that has counted for a great deal in our way forward as a major football club in recent years. His ability to wheel and deal has aided us greatly in the transfer market, an area that he has been responsible for since the George Graham bung scandal. Bringing Wenger to the Club will be seen as his crowning achievement, but how many informed fans really believe that it was Rioch, rather than Dein, who gave us Dennis Bergkamp. Given that Bergkamp paved the way for other great signings and set new standards of excellence on the field DB10 was an immense signing. DD was very much isolated in his stand against a new stadium but some believe that this was because he could see the writing on the wall with regards to team spending, which is still after all his area of expertise. New stadiums are a gamble that have seen more than one Club relegated as a result. Derby, Leicester, Sunderland and Southampton all spring to mind, but there are others. Word on the street is that he agreed the Cole pay rise only to have it rejected by others on the Board. Given his over-riding concern for team affairs, not entirely shared by others on the Board it seems no great wonder that he was isolated. Dein could also relate to fans far better than other directors and realised what a pig’s ear was made of the new brand image (the Club badge). It is believed by some that he detests Keith Edelman and hasn’t spoken to him for ages. No doubt we’ll find out what DD’s irreconcilable differences with the rest of the board were at some point, but whatever they were he will be a very difficult man to replace and without doubt his leaving has moved the board a step further away from the fans. It’s difficult to picture Dein staying away from Football power-broking and Arsenal in particular, word on the street is that when he left he told quite a few people that he’d be back. Back in 1991 Dein owned 42% of the Club’s shares but has reduced his shareholding considerably and is believed to have sold Arsenal shares since that time to the value of about £10 million.

Keith Edelman our current Managing Director and has held numerous high-powered posts in a variety of companies that include Bank of America, Grand Metropolitan, Ladbroke Group, Texas Homecare, Carlton Communications and Storehouse. So he’s not exactly a one-company man but he is experienced at running major companies. In his time at Arsenal he has been regarded by some as penny-pinching at a time the Club needed to be penny-pinching. He has done a brilliant job or re-financing loans and he’s made the brand altogether more viable. His financial expertise was apparently behind the new stadium financing and he helped drive the ticket sales that saw the introduction of so many City bums on seats. But he’s not perceived as picking up on the heartbeat of the Club, namely the fans, and he often appears not to relate to the very essence of Arsenal. The Club badge may be regarded as a marketing triumph but it was also a major fiasco in the eyes of fans. There have been any number of ticket sale farces under his stewardship. A number of other issues that appear minor to the board but major to the fans have not helped his image. The bland concrete bands in the stadium were not seen as being important until the fans threw a wobbly, the placement of hardcore fans and away fans at Ashburton were poorly considered, the seat priorities given to fans with money over long-term supporters upset numerous long-term season ticket holders. Heavy-handed treatment of standing fans and the national flag farce have also done Mr. Edelman no favours given that he has control of the day to day running of the Club. Many supporters argue that this has come about because his perception of a football Club is almost totally confined to the balance sheet. That said he continues to do a very decent job but one that would have been so much more sensitively executed by a genuine fan of the Club. And if it’s true, as some suggest, that he and Dein didn’t even talk to one another - just how daft is that?

Richard Charles Lascelles Carr (69) is the grandson of former Arsenal Chairman Bracewell- Smith and is responsible for the club's youth development and academy. His half-sister Sarah now Lady Sarah Phipps-Bagge and his brother Clive Carr are also shareholders. Clive Carr Is Arsenal Football Club's Life President.

KSE Ltd (Kroenke Sports Enterprises) & Stan Kroenke are or were the perceived threat as seen by Peter Hill-Wood and one would assume the rest of our current Board. KSE and Stan Kroenke are effectively one and the same thing for purposes of ownership. With over 12% of the Club shares already tied up the alleged threat of a takeover by Kroenke could be a real one if that’s the way he decides to play it. Stan is involved in sports big time in the USA but on a fairly local basis in Colorado and he is anything but a publicity seeker. He likes to keep a very low profile. For Peter Hill-Wood to have proclaimed that Stan knows nothing about football is grossly unfair. Football isn’t his biggest financial sporting involvement to be sure because the Rams, who are an American Football team, have a far higher profile than anything else Stan Kroenke owns. That said the way he is going about expanding the profile of football locally is highly commendable and possibly quite unique.

Other groups who will become involved in the event of the takeover that may or may not unfold include the two major financial institutions that hold Arsenal shares. Namely Lansdowne Holdings and Morgan Stanley Investments.

Almost certainly there will be some financial gamblers who’ve been taking a punt on Arsenal shares rocketing. It could yet be that the share owning fans will have the final say. Talking to some of them, as I have done, they purchased shares initially so that they could be part of the Club and nothing has changed in that regard. Or they inherited shares and wish to remain part of the Club. Should the independent owners of shares combine together under an umbrella group such as the Arsenal Shareholders Trust (AST) then there would probably be enough of them to possibly make a difference to any takeover games depending on how the opposing sides of a takeover line up. What can be certain about the Trust is they are interested in the Club from the perspective of fans and as such will only have the interests of the Club at heart. Something which may not necessarily be true of all the other parties involved.

Given that AST have far more information on their website than any single source I’ve found to date and are more in touch with the situation than even the more regular financial information providers such as The Times, Telegraph, Guardian or Independent I imagine many news sources are at least partially reliant on information provided by AST. Given how well informed AST appears to be it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they hadn’t also had a meeting with David Dein since he left the Club’s employ.

Personally I’m not a member of AST but I certainly consider them to be the best placed group of Arsenal supporters both with regard to understanding and advising on what is happening at Boardroom level. Should any fans reading this, especially shareholders, want to know more then I definitely recommend a visit to the Arsenal Supporters Trust website.