What does Clearlake takeover mean for Chelsea? How Blues’ next chapter will look as Todd Boehly leaves Stamford Bridge

A WAVE is set to hit Chelsea as chairman Todd Boehly steps down from Stamford Bridge, leaving a wake for a Clearlake takeover.

The 52-year-old businessman agreed to sell his stake in the Premier League club as the US private equity firm claims “full control of the club”.

And Boehly is not the first to cash in on the allure with co-owner Mark Walter also cashing in.

Both American CEOs and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, who will keep his 13.5 per cent stake in west London, each held a 12.8 per cent share after their joint 2022 takeover.

The Financial Times reported that Boehly and Walter’s combined share will be sold for around £950million.

And that is valued at approximately £5billion including debt.

Boehly and Walter will make a small profit on their investment.

Clearlake previously owned 61.58 per cent of the deal – and their portfolio will soon hold more than 86 per cent.

At the end of May, Boehly is due to hand over the Chelsea chairmanship to Clearlake – but he will be keeping a firm grip on his veto powers.

This has been a long time coming for Clearlake supremo Behdad Eghbali and Boehly, who have navigated choppy waters from separate executive boxes at .

The two powers see very different visions for Chelsea, SunSport revealed.

It all came down to their plans for a shiny new 60,000-seater stadium complex, where neither party wants to chip in or borrow their share of the £5bn for a project that they do not back.

Speaking to Bloomberg in March 2025, Boehly said: “We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to figure out.

“And I think the owners will either be aligned, or we ultimately decide to go our different ways.”

While the streamlined decision-making process will help in some regards, it will not help finance the major stadium decision – whether or not they decide to revamp or relocate.

Chelsea abandoned plans for a flashy redevelopment at the beginning of 2018, having already secured planning permission.

The club pointed to an ‘unfavourable investment climate’ as the reason for scrapping the project.

But with the change in ownership, Chelsea have emphasised that there will be no changes to the club’s day-to-day operations, leadership or strategy.

Continuity has been the big message for Alonso and Co.

And there are reportedly no plans to appoint a new chairman while the same executive sporting and commercial team remain in place.

Next summer, will expire while the bill currently stands at just under £795m, according to the latest figures for holding company BlueCo 22 Ltd.

And in July, the owners – most likely Clearlake – will be sitting at the negotiating table to figure out new terms with the same group of lenders or someone new.

There is no chance the owners will leave the club to sink, but BlueCo 22’s outstanding £2bn loan to Chelsea Football Club Ltd will certainly be a topic of discussion.

But football fans may not be shocked at the staggering figures after the Blues have built a reputation for spending.

The name will ring a bell for Chelsea supporters who watched on as the UK Government forced the oligarch to sell the club due to his ties with Russian president amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Boehly stepped up to the podium and splashed out more than £1billion in the transfer market.

And even this summer, made headlines in July after he became the most expensive British player following his £117m move from Aston Villa.