Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group and an African business magnate, has apologized for passing up the opportunity to buy Premier League team Arsenal for $2 billion in the past. Currently, the club is valued at almost $4 billion.
Dangote declared in 2020 that he will purchase the North London club after completing his refinery project. However, the billionaire admitted that the “time has passed” for him to buy Arsenal in a recent interview that aired in New York on Bloomberg TV.
Dangote, whose estimated net worth is $13.4 billion, is the second richest person in Africa as of September 2024. Johann Rupert is currently the richest person in Africa, with $14.3 billion in net wealth.
The chief executive of the biggest conglomerate in West Africa, Dangote Group, stated that he does not now have the funds to support an investment of $4 billion in Arsenal, pointing out that investing just for marketing purposes would not be feasible.
“I think that time has passed,” Dangote said. “The last time we had this interview, I told you that, yes, as soon as I finished with the refinery, I was going to try and buy Arsenal. But the issue is that everything has gone up. The clubs are all doing well, and Arsenal is doing extremely well now. At that time [when I wanted to buy], they were not doing very well.”
He underlined that funding his refinery project was the proper choice at the time. “I wish I had purchased Arsenal sooner. But I didn’t need to buy Arsenal with my money; I needed it to finish my work.” He said he could never have completed my project if he had paid $2 billion for it.
Dangote is still an avid fan of Arsenal, even though he has given up on his dream of purchasing the team. “I will always be the biggest Arsenal fan. I will always be a huge fan of theirs and will watch their games, but I don’t think buying Arsenal makes sense right now.
“Actually, I regret not buying Arsenal before, but completing my project was the right move,” Dangote continued, reflecting on his choice.
Dangote, who comes from a wealthy family and is ranked 158th on the Forbes Billionaires List, has a long history of influence in the commercial world in Africa.
