Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani withdrew his offer to buy Manchester United in October, which left Sir Jim Ratcliffe as the only bidder left at the table. It was clear from that point that it was a one horse race, with the British billionaire successful in becoming Manchester United co-owner.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe joked he is not sure if Sheikh Jassim even exists.
The Qatar bid was fronted by Sheikh Jassim and they submitted an offer to completely buy United in February 2023.
Ratcliffe attended the INEOS meetings with United staff in person last March whereas Sheikh Jassim was not present when the Qatari entourage visited Old Trafford.
We now understand Sheikh Jassim never met Joel Glazer or Avram Glazer.
“Sill nobody’s ever seen him, actually,” Ratcliffe told reporters in Knightsbridge, London, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
“The Glazers never met him. He never… I’m not sure he exists! I think it’s extraordinary, really. But I agree with that – it was confounding.”
Ratcliffe also confirmed the SEC filings that the Qatari’s never showed proof of funds, adding: “No, they didn’t, no. They were obviously there and there was a whole host of people on the team in the squad, their squad.
“I didn’t ever meet them. But it was a very odd affair.”
The Qatari people fooled a lot of people into thinking that Ratcliffe was the one with insufficient funds, or something to hide, when in truth it was the other way around.
And Sheikh Jassim is another warped example of Ai!
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