I have two GOLDEN RULES when it comes to investments;
- Never invest in football teams
- Never invest in Airlines
I broke rule No.2 once…quite sure I didn’t make money on it. As Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic, once responded to the question of how to become a millionaire;
Start by being a billionaire and then buy an airline.
I digress. Back to football. By the way, I support Arsenal.
Men, when did Americans begin to love football (called “soccer” in America and Austrialia) so much. First, Malcolm Glazer (owns Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Now Randy Lerner (owns Cleveland Browns American football team).
Today, Aston Villa’s board recommended that shareholders accept Randy Lerner’s bid of £63 million after beating three rival bidders including Michael Neville. A quick scan of the RNS statement shows that Randy Lerner is paying 547p in cash per share. This represents a 47% premium to the share price on the 16 Sept 2005 (not sure why they are using this date as the approach was announced on 1 Sept 2005).
Now look at the share price graph since 1998;
© Selftrade
Ofcourse if you invested in 2003 when everyone else was just recovering from tech bust, you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.
The future looks very bright for Aston Villa. Recently appointed Martin O’Neill as the club’s manager with the Lerner promising to make £20 million available for new players.
Read more:
Yankee Invasion Or Lifelong Fan For Villa Park Boardroom?
Sentimentality gets us nowhere, Michael
Luke Johnson has an interesting piece in the telegraph today titled ‘What’s Paradise for a plutocrat?’, in the article he details the different ways by which people (wealthy individuals) employ to enrich their happiness.
I’m told there is a disease called Paradise Syndrome. The symptoms consist of a feeling of dissatisfaction - despite the patient having achieved all their dreams. Presumably those suffering from this terrible complaint think they cannot find any new challenges. They have ascended Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs but there are no more mountains to conquer. For some, it seems, even paradise is not enough.
One of the few concepts I was able to pick up in my management class last year was Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. Abraham Maslow carried out his investigations into human behavior between 1939 and 1943 and put forward ‘Hierarchy of Human Needs’ which in simple terms means that as the basic needs of humans are met humans desire higher needs.
He reviews all the different ways from donations to Political Parties (thereby receiving honour) to owning a football club as well as giving it all to your children.
Football clubs: Extravagant playthings that mostly deliver misery to their owners. I did business with one fellow who told me that buying a club was the worst mistake he had ever made - even more painful than two failed marriages.
There you have it. Never invest in a football, no matter how tempting it is. (not even Manchester United - maybe Arsenal.)
Giving it to relatives: Spoiling children rarely improves their character. And deadbeats who hang around waiting for an inheritance are not very admirable.
Well depends on how you want to look at it. I guess he is right, it is probably better to give it all away to a good cause because most other so-called pleasures will surely bring disappointment.
— Black Like Beckham; contender for EMMA
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