Who is William Storey? The Rich Energy CEO claiming to have launched a takeover bid for Sunderland AFC

Supporters have reacted with concern after Storey’s name circulated in regards to a takeover of the club, and his business history has certainly been tumultuous.

Here, we take a look at the man behind the supposed bid:

Who is William Storey and where do his business interests lie?

Storey is one of the co-founders and current chief executive of energy drink firm Rich Energy.

The businessman was educated at St Andrew’s University and claims to have previously been on the books of QPR, only to be released before making a senior appearance.

He later founded a sport management business before moving into the energy drink field having founded Rich Energy in 2015. The drink itself is said to have been invented in 2009 but the company didn’t come into existence until six years later.

Storey is primarily based in Richmond.

Has he been involved with sports before?

Yes, Storey’s involvement in sport is long-standing.

Rich Energy became one of the first sponsors of West Ham United Women upon their launch in 2017, with reports claiming that Storey has worked with David Sullivan and David Gold in a number of ventures.

One key venture of Storey’s that hit the headlines was Rich Energy’s ill-fated sponsorship of Formula One team Haas.

It was claimed that four high-profile billionaires backed Storey to secure the sponsorship – thought to be worth around $60million per season.

But the sponsorship deal failed to last a year.

The company promised big things but only six months into the deal – with Haas struggling - Rich Energy tweeted claiming that they had cancelled the deal. This was later blamed on a rogue employee, but Haas later confirmed the deal had been terminated just 11 months after it was signed.

Rich Energy claimed that they had withdrawn from the sponsorship due to Haas' ‘poor performance’ and the ‘politics and PC attitude’ involved with Formula One.

Storey later claimed to have agreed a £100million deal to purchase the Sahara Force India racing team after they were placed into administration, but the team themselves denied this.

How much is William Storey worth?

Storey’s exact wealth is unknown, as too is the success or otherwise of the Rich Energy brand – with no accounts having been filed since 2017.

What do we know about his interest in Sunderland AFC?

In a tweet posted on Friday morning, Storey claims to have made a bid to purchase Sunderland from Stewart Donald.

He said that he has attracted ‘significant funding from blue-chip backers’ to help a deal.

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