Who is William Storey? The Rich Energy founder who keeps getting linked with takeover bid for Sunderland AFC

Storey has once again been linked with a takeover bid of Sunderland AFC with a new report claiming a consortium he is fronting has offered the club’s ownership group £42m to sell.

Storey was first linked with a move for the club two years ago before Kyril Louis-Dreyfus came on board as new chairman.

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Rich Energy claimed that they had withdrawn from the sponsorship due to Haas' ‘poor performance’ and the ‘politics and PC attitude’ involved with Formula One.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

What do we know about his interest in Sunderland AFC?

William Storey has once again been linked with a takeover bid of Sunderland AFC with a new report claiming a consortium he is fronting has offered the club’s ownership group £42m to sell.

Storey was first linked with a move for the club two years ago before Kyril Louis-Dreyfus came on board as new chairman.

A report in the Daily Mail claims Sunderland’s ownership group – which includes Louis-Dreyfus, Stewart Donald, Charlie Methven and Juan Sartori – has been offered £42m to sell.

However, Louis-Dreyfus, who owns 41% and the controlling share, has always spoken about his commitment to Sunderland and he has again stressed he has no intention of selling his share.

Louis-Dreyfus has previously said he has of yet not been able to agree a deal to acquire Stewart Donald's shareholding in Sunderland AFC. Both Donald and Methven have previously confirmed they were willing to sell their stakes.

The report claims Storey’s group is looking to buy out all four owners and take over 100% of the shares.

But a club spokesman told the Mail that Louis-Dreyfus had no intention of selling his share and he’d ‘not had any contact with any party wishing to purchase the club’ and that he remains committed to the long-term at SAFC.

Read the latest developments here: