Kretinsky agrees to become largest West Ham shareholder

What the report says

Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky has reached a deal that would make him West Ham United’s largest shareholder, according to BBC Sport Football. The agreement covers a major share package and is reported to take his holding to 46%, giving him the biggest stake in the club and reducing the prospect of an investment by former Newcastle director Amanda Staveley.

BBC Sport says the arrangement was struck with West Ham’s other shareholders, including former chairman David Sullivan, and involves the 25% stake previously held by the Gold family. The report says Sullivan’s own holding would rise slightly, while co-chair Vanessa Gold had earlier planned to sell her shares to Kretinsky before later agreeing to sell her entire stake to Staveley. That competing deal appears to have been overtaken by the club’s pre-emption rights process, which gives existing directors first refusal on major share sales.

The move is significant because it reshapes the ownership balance at West Ham, a Championship club at the time of the report, and effectively blocks Staveley’s immediate route in. BBC Sport also notes that Sullivan’s role at the club is already under scrutiny by the independent regulator, though the latest share deal is not expected to prompt additional examination. The club and the individuals involved had not commented in the report.