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Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour will be revealed as the owner of a $500-million Major League Soccer team expansion franchise this week.
According to The New York Times, the 75-year-old will be awarded a team in San Diego, California, which will become the league’s 30th franchise on Thursday.
According to the report, Mansour’s investment in the team could top $700 million with aspirations of creating an academy beyond filling the roster with players and hiring staff, with the team set to begin playing in the league in 2025, ahead of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Mansour’s yet-to-be-named team will sign a deal with San Diego State University to play at the 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium, which will host a pre-season friendly between Manchester United and Wrexham in July.
Mansour will co-own the team with the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a Native American tribe that has lived in the San Diego area for over 10,000 years.
In the last three years, Austin FC, Charlotte, and St. Louis City have all entered the MLS, and Las Vegas has been mentioned as a possible location for another new club to join the league if it continues to grow.
According to Forbes, Mansour’s net worth is $3.6 billion. He oversees Mansour Group, a family conglomerate founded by his father, Loutfy, in 1952, and has 60,000 employees.
His family business is one of GM’s biggest distributors worldwide.
Mansour Group also has exclusive distribution rights for Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and seven other African countries.
Through his family office, Man Capital, he also owns stakes in the Danish Superliga club Nordsjaelland and runs the Right to Dream football academies in Ghana, Egypt, and Denmark.
