Meet the EFL’s ‘newest owner’, wacky maths whizz William Storey who owned a pet cheetah and was a pro gambler and farmer
BRITISH businessman William Storey is reportedly set to make his mark in the English Football League.
The 45-year-old, who founded drinks brand Rich Energy in 2015, is understood to be interested in buying League One outfit Reading.
Reports claim that he is ready to wrap up a deal worth £50million and clear the club’s huge debt, but the Royals have denied that a deal has been agreed.
An official statement released on Thursday afternoon read: “Reading Football Club would like to clarify that the process of the sale of the club is ongoing and, contrary to reports, there is currently no agreement in place with any party.
“Several parties have approached the club in recent weeks with declarations of interest in purchasing the club.
“All approaches are being assessed on their own merits to find the most suitable buyer to ensure a healthy future of the club and, at this stage, no single individual or entity has exclusivity in this process.
“We thank our supporters for their continued support, patience and understanding. As ever we will endeavour to keep our fans as informed as possible, and further updates will be provided as and when it is appropriate to do so.”
Despite Reading’s reluctance to let any information of a potential takeover slip, Storey has remained firmly in the frame.
The businessman has been desperate to invest in a football club in recent years, having failed in a bid to take over Sunderland in 2020 and Coventry City last year.
But his potential involvement with Reading – who currently sit 22nd in the League One table after being relegated from the Championship last season – has raised some eyebrows given his fiasco in Formula One.
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Storey and Rich Energy signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Haas F1 team in 2018, but it was amicably terminated the following year due to the team’s poor performances.
He was involved in another sponsorship saga last year, this time with British Superbike team OMG Racing Yamaha.
However, the team issued a bizarre statement stating that they were not sponsored by Rich Energy’s owners – including storey – but but by “the global sales and distribution rights holder” for the drinks produced by the company.
Aside from his attempts to take the sporting world by storm, Storey has led a very interesting life.
He was educated at the Russell School in Petersham before moving to the Tiffin Boys’ School in Kingston upon Thames.
The former F1 team sponsor studied mathematics at St Andrews University and gambled to pay his way through his studied after discovering an algorithm.
He told RiverTribe: “I started at university and to supplement my income I developed a trading algorithm for horseracing using mathematics, which was my degree.
“A meeting with Irish punting legend Barney Curley fired this passion. For two years I was a professional gambler and in recent years made significant bets on the outcome of the US elections and on the Referendum.
“This philosophy on risk undoubtedly informs my business strategy.”
Storey, who once had a pet cheetah called Boy and worked as a farmer in Zimbabwe, also claims he had a trial at Queens Park Rangers in 2000.
Speaking to The Daily Mail in 2020, he admitted: “I trained with QPR for about a month when Gerry Francis was the manager.
“It was round about 2000 with the first team. You had the likes of Iain Dowie, Peter Crouch was there at the time too.
“I trained for about a month and played a couple of reserve games as a trialist.”