Chien Lee | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lee in 2016 | |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur Investor sports team owner |
| Organization | NewCity Capital |
| Known for | First person to invest in nine European football clubs: FC Thun (Switzerland) AS Nancy Lorraine (France) FC Kaiserslautern (Germany) GKS Tychy (Poland) Barnsley F.C. (England) OGC Nice (France) Esbjerg fB (Denmark) FC Den Bosch (Netherlands) K.V. Oostende (Belgium) |
| Chairman ofAS Nancy Lorraine | |
| In office December 2020 – present | |
| Chairman ofBarnsley F.C. | |
| In office December 2017 – May 2022 | |
| Chairman ofOGC Nice | |
| In office June 2016 – August 2019 | |
Chien Lee (Chinese:李建;pinyin:Lǐ Jiàn) is a Chinese-Americanentrepreneur,investor, and sports team owner. He has built a multi-club ownership model, owns multiple professional Europeanfootball clubs and is a well-known investor in European football.[1][2]
Lee is the founder and Chairman of NewCity Capital and co-founder of7 Days Inn.[3] He is the first person to invest in nine European football clubs includingFC Thun,[4]AS Nancy Lorraine,[5][6]FC Kaiserslautern,[7]GKS Tychy FC.[8]OGC Nice,[9]Barnsley F.C.,[10]K.V. Oostende,[11]Esbjerg fB,[12] andFC Den Bosch,[13] He is regarded as a pioneer of multi-club ownership in European football.[14]
TheFinancial Times stated that Lee has refined Moneyball[15] andThe Wall Street Journal called Lee's football journey "aMoneyball experiment in English soccer".[16]
Lee is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of NewCity Capital, a private investment company, focused on the sport and hospitality industries. In August 1989, he founded Lee Holdings Company Inc., a US-based investment company focused on the acquisition of real estate assets. Later in 2005, Lee actively invested in the hospitality Industry, co-founding7 Days Inn (NYSE: SVN), one of the largest budget hotel chains in China.[17] In 2014, Lee invested in The Grand Ho Tram Strip in Vietnam, one of the region's largest integrated resorts.[18]
In 2016, Lee forayed into professional sports investment and acquired multiple European football clubs, building one of the largest European football portfolios in the world by number of clubs. since June 2016, Lee has invested in 9 European football clubs.
Football is an attractive and good asset class investment.
He has created an internal infrastructure and a management team who are able to operate businesses in multiple countries, each with its own unique culture, language, and operational differences. His multi-club ownership is acknowledged as a unique business model in the world's most popular sport.[20][2][21] In a 2018 interview withForbes, Lee stated that:
As a long-term investor in football, he would use a data approach to identify talents, focusing on young players on the sporting side, and balancing the budget on the business side. His strategy contrasts sharply with that of many other investors currently in European football, where huge sums of money are invested in marquee players and success is expected overnight.
Lee's ambition to build a European football empire continues as his soccer portfolio keeps expanding; the multi-club ownership gives Lee advantages beyond talent recruitment, capitalizing on the global reach of soccer and maximizing lucrative sponsorship revenues, as well as helping the football clubs grow and become more competitive.[23][24]
Lee's first foray into professional sports was in purchasing French top-tier soccer teamOGC Nice FC in June 2016.[25] Subsequently, Lee tried to acquire more European soccer teams. In September 2016, Lee held advanced takeover talks withHull City FC ownerAssem Allam.[26][27] After formally ending his takeover bid forHull City FC in November, Lee made an offer to buyMiddlesbrough FC, but was rejected by club ownerSteve Gibson in January 2017.[28] In April 2017, Lee was in talks withBrentford FC ownerMatthew Benham over a potential bid for the club. Lee was attracted byBrentford FC’s location in London which is close to Heathrow Airport and its stadium development plans.[29][30] In December 2017, Lee acquiredBarnsley FC from the Cryne family.[31] Later in June 2019, Lee attempted to buy Partick Thistle FC.[32] In November 2019, Lee also invested in FC Thun Football Club.[33]
In January 2020, it was reported that Lee was in the race to buyKV Oostende, competing withDavid Blitzer, co-owner of thePhiladelphia 76ers andNew Jersey Devils.[34][35] After selling French football clubOGC Nice to Great Britain's richest man,Jim Ratcliffe back in August 2019, Lee wanted to return to French football. Already the owner of theBarnsley FC in England andFC Thun in Switzerland, Lee looked to expand his portfolio once more. After prospecting several French clubs, Lee set his sights on Toulouse and its football club and entered into exclusive negotiations to buyToulouse FC in March 2020.[36][1]
In May 2020, Lee completed the investment inKV Oostende Football Club, the only professional football club on the Belgian coast and the 4th European soccer investment for him.[37][38] After purchasingKV Oostende Football Club, Lee continued to pursue the French football clubToulouse FC, competing with tech tycoonMichael Dell and his investment fundMSD Capital which were also in the race to buyToulouse FC.[39][40] In July 2020, Lee attempted to acquire SV Mattersburg FC, an Austrian football club fromMattersburg,Burgenland.[41] In December 2020, after an unsuccessful attempt to buyToulouse FC, Lee turned the attention toAS Nancy Lorraine, competing withCity Football Group, the owner ofManchester City F.C. He then purchasedAS Nancy Lorraine, thus returning to French football.[42][43] In early February 2021, media reported Lee, together with Pacific Media Group, Partners Path Capital, and Krishen Sud were in the process to buy Denmark'sEsbjerg fB Football Club[44] and in discussion with Dutch soccer clubFC Den Bosch about a possible takeover.[45] In March 2021, Lee completed the investment inEsbjerg fB.[46] In April 2021,Bloomberg reported Lee's football group was looking for an opportunity to invest in German football, one of Europe's richest leagues. They approached a number of clubs to see if there was a shared philosophy and an opportunity to invest.[47] In September 2021, Lee completed the investment inFC Den Bosch,[13] the first multi-club ownership deal in the Netherlands.[48] In March 2022, Lee together with a group of U.S. investors completed their investment in1. FC Kaiserslautern, one of the most historic clubs in Germany.[7] in April 2022, it was reported that Lee was looking to buy another football club,Lechia Gdańsk in Poland.[49] In July 2022, media reported that Lee and Pacific Media Group were in discussions to invest inHellas Verona F.C., which currently plays inSerie A, the top of the Italian football league.[50] In April 2023, Lee acquiredGKS Tychy FC, a Polish professional football club, based in Tychy.[8]
We understand football in the long term, there will always be ups and downs, Progress comes step by step and success requires patience.
Lee's journey in multi-club ownership captures the highs and lows of modern football investment, His story unfolds from early challenges, setbacks, and failures to a remarkable comeback and the achievement of footballing success. He is a well-known investor who has reshaped the fortunes of several European football clubs.[14] As chairman, his 2016 investment inOGC Nice led the club to its first-everUEFA Champions League qualification by 2018.[53] His involvement withFC Kaiserslautern began in March 2022, when the club was in Germany’s third division. That same year, they achieved promotion to the second division of German football, the2. Bundesliga,[54] and by 2024, they had reached their first German Cup final in 21 years.[55] Lee’s 2019 investment inFC Thun helped the then–second-division side win the 2024–25Swiss Challenge League title, earning promotion to the top-tierSwiss Super League in 2025.[56] In 2021, Lee invested inAS Nancy Lorraine amid the club’s struggles in French football and became its chairman. Despite facing numerous challenges — including relegation to theChampionnat National in 2022, further relegation to theChampionnat National 2, and an administrative demotion to theChampionnat National 3, the fifth tier of French football in 2023, Lee rose to the challenge and initiated a comprehensive restructuring of the organization on both sporting and business fronts. This effort led to a remarkable return to theChampionnat National in 2024 and culminated in winning theChampionnat National title, securing promotion toLigue 2 in 2025.[57][58]
"Lee has refinedMoneyball. Barnsley almost always buy players under 24, whose value is likely to rise. They rarely take loan players, so as to forge a team ethic from regulars. And they play the same tactics whoever the manager is."
Lee has refinedMoneyball and his football journey is a Moneyball experiment in European Soccer according to theFinancial Times andThe Wall Street Journal,[15][16]Moneyball, The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a book byMichael Lewis, published in 2003, about theOakland Athletics baseball team and its general managerBilly Beane. Its focus is the team's analytical, evidence-based, sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team despite Oakland's small budget. A film based on Lewis' book, starringBrad Pitt andJonah Hill, was released in 2011.[60] There are three pillars to Lee's football group version of Moneyball in Soccer, The first is a reliance on analytics over traditional scouting. The second pillar to the group's strategy is a "ruthless commitment to young players", The third and final pillar to Lee's football group Moneyball approach is a narrow focus on the acquisition of players—and coaches—who thrive in a "high-press" system, a forward-thinking, data-driven club with a low-cost, high-pressing formula and Moneyball-like model achieved success at Lee's football group.[61]
Lee credits the use of data as a key contributor to the success, the use of data and technical analysis has become essential for football. Lee predicted that football could useartificial intelligence (AI) to analyse players' thought processes to help them with decision-making and involve technology to communicate with players on the pitch in real time.
Lee transformed the way to invest in European football, and his football group focused on investment in distressed clubs and restructuring them on both the business and sporting sides. Many European soccer clubs are struggling to survive and find themselves in alarmingly poor financial positions. Clubs that would never have previously looked for outside investment are now forced to do so because of poor liquidity and massive debt. Lee also focused investment on clubs in lower divisions, taking advantage of the merit-based promotion system and using expertise and good management to get these clubs promoted to higher tiers, thus adding immense value.[63][64]
Unlike the huge soccer multinationals led byManchester City andRed Bull, who believe their rivals areDisney andAmazon rather than other soccer teams, Lee's football group focuses on much more modest outfits.
Lee uses a data approach to identify talents and coaches, focusing on signing young players with development in mind, capturing the huge potential in the player transfer market, buying players at low prices, and reaping huge rewards by selling them high. Using a data approach to identify talents and focusing on young players, playing high-pressing football on the sporting side, and balancing the budget on the business side is part of the policy for all Lee's football clubs. His multi-club ownership approach creates the ecosystem where each club is run with this financial and recruitment model.[59]
Lee's football group a Poundland Red Bull and taking on the elite with data, pressing, and young players.
Sheikh Mansour has piped more than £1 billion intoCity Football Group, includingManchester City F.C. Austrian drinks companyRed Bull has poured hundreds of millions into clubs in Austria, Brazil, Germany, and the United States, But Lee's football group have acquired five clubs including Barnsley, Esbjerg, Nancy, Oostende and Thun across Europe at a cost of just over £40 million.[66] According to the Sportico, Lee is an early mover in investing in lower-division developmental clubs in European football, positioning himself to capitalize on future growth and value creation in the sport.[14] Since June 2016, Lee has invested in 9 European football clubs. Below is a list of his current and former clubs in European football:
OGC Nice
Barnsley FC
FC Thun
K.V. OostendeAS Nancy Lorraine
Esbjerg fB
FC Den Bosch
1. FC Kaiserslautern
GKS Tychy
In June 2016, Lee purchased French football teamOGC Nice and became the Chairman of the board and co-owner atOGC Nice, a French club based inNice.[67][68] Media reported that Lee acquired the football club for €20 million and is one of the notable sport acquisition in 2016.[69][70] During Lee's first year of ownership, the club built a new state-of-the-art academy and training center to focus on the training of young players, appointedLucien Favre as OGC Nice manager,[71] and signed Italian strikerMario Balotelli fromLiverpool F.C.[72] The club qualified for theUEFA Champions League for the first time in its history.[73] In June 2018 Lee appointed former Arsenal midfielderPatrick Vieira asOGC Nice manager.[74]
In August 2019, according to theFinancial Times andESPN, Lee soldOGC Nice toIneos, run by Great Britain's richest manJim Ratcliffe, for €100 million,[75] makingOGC Nice the most expensive sale ever in French football history at the time of the transaction, costing significantly more than the €79m spent by the Qatar royal family to buyParis Saint-Germain in 2011, and the €45m paid out byFrank McCourt for the acquisition ofMarseille in September 2016. It is also more than whatBordeaux (€95m) andLille (€80m) were sold for in 2018.[76]
In December 2017, Lee acquired English football teamBarnsley F.C. with a group of international investors after previous failed attempts to purchaseHull City,Middlesbrough, andBrentford, and became the co-owner of Barnsley.[77] Lee was joined by 'Moneyball' pioneerBilly Beane in the acquisition. from 2017 to 2022 during Lee's tenure as co-Chairman, the club experienced two of the most successful seasons in its history: a promotion to the Championship as runners-up in 2018-19, and reaching the Championship play-offs in 2020-21, taking Barnsley to within touching distance of thePremier League.[78][79] the club adopted a high pressing style of football, began using a data-oriented approach to identify talents, and focused on signing young players.[80][81][82] Barnsley earns more from player trading than it spends, and is one of the more radical squad-building experiments that English soccer has seen.[65]
In November 2019, Lee became an investor inFC Thun, a Swiss football team from theBernese Oberland town ofThun. After the investment, the club began using data-based player analysis and player identification to expand its European network for potential player transfers, and marketing the club in Asian markets to extend sponsorship options.[33]
On May 2, 2025, Thun secure champions of 2024–25Swiss Challenge League and promotion toSwiss Super League the highest level of theSwiss football league system.[56]
In May 2020, Lee became an investor in the Belgian top division teamK.V. Oostende, a Belgian football club from the city of Ostend, West Flanders. This was the 4th European soccer club Lee purchased. Lee completed the acquisition of K.V. Oostende during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and saved the club from liquidation. Lee saw a lot of potential in the club to strengthen the team with a data-based approach to identify talent. Lee believes there are many talented players in Belgium, and the K.V. Oostende youth academy is very important to success.
After selling French football clubOGC Nice to one of Britain's richest men,Jim Ratcliffe, in August 2019, Lee acquired French clubAS Nancy on 31 December 2020 and became the Chairman of board and co-owner.[6] The club was founded in 1967 and has spent its entire history playing in either Ligue 1 or Ligue 2. Nancy's biggest achievement came in 1978 when the club won the Coupe de France, defeating Nice in the final. One of the club's most notable former players isMichel Platini, the former president ofUEFA. Platini began his career at AS Nancy in 1972,[83] andArsène Wenger started his managerial career at Nancy in 1984.[84]
In March 2021, Lee became an investor inEsbjerg fB, a professional football club based inEsbjerg,Denmark, the 6th European football club Lee invested in. Lee was attracted to the club's impressive history, strong youth academy, and the passionate fans and sponsors. He intended to focus on talented young players using his proven data and analysis platform.[12] Despite that Lee let some of the most talented youth players leave for nothing, including Mads Kikkenborg who was later sold to RSC Anderlecht[85]
In September 2021, Lee became an investor inFC Den Bosch, a Dutch professional football club based's-Hertogenbosch,Netherlands, Lee's 7th European football club investment.[13]
In March 2022, Lee became a minority shareholder of1. FC Kaiserslautern,[7] one of Germany's most legendary clubs, based inKaiserslautern,Rhineland-Palatinate. Founded in 1900 as FC Palatia Kaiserslautern and as a founding member of theBundesliga, the club won the German championship on four occasions and the German Cup twice. 1. FC Kaiserslautern is historically among the most successful football clubs in Germany, occupying 11th place in the all-time Bundesliga table. The club's international performances include reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in 1999 as well as two participations in the UEFA Cup semi-finals, Furthermore, Kaiserslautern's squad of the 1950s also formed the backbone of the Germany national team that won the 1954 World Cup, in what is called the Miracle of Bern (das Wunder von Bern) in Germany. The club, however, found itself in serious trouble in recent years, and was relegated to the second division for the second time in 2006. In 2018 the club was relegated to the third tier for the first time in club history.[86] Lee pursued the investment in1. FC Kaiserslautern as a long-term project in cooperation with club management, fans, and local partners to achieve a return to growth and success for the club.[87]
Kaiserslautern is a giant in German football history. It is one of the legendary clubs in Germany. I know that people say the giant has fallen from the top tier in the past few years, but the giant is waking up now -- he is back and continues to fight.
On May 24, 2022, during Lee's first year of investment, FC Kaiserslautern earned promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga.[54]
On May 25, 2024, Kaiserslautern reached the German Cup final (2024 DFB-Pokal final) for the first time in 21 years.[89]
In April 2023, Lee together with The Seelig Group acquiredGKS Tychy FC, a Polish professional football club, based in Tychy, that plays in the Polish I Liga. The club was founded in 1971. It is Lee's 9th European football club investment.[8]
Lee has invested significantly in the hospitality industry. In 2014 he invested in Asian Coast Development (Canada) Ltd., the developer of The Grand Ho Tram Strip inVietnam, one of the region's largest integrated resorts to capture Vietnam's booming tourist markets. In a 2014 interview withForbes, Lee described the Ho Tram Strip as a “hidden diamond,” and remarked that tourism is one of the most important driving forces for Vietnam's economic development.[90][91] Investors in the Ho Tram Strip includedWarburg Pincus andHarbinger Capital. The first phase of the Ho Tram Strip development includes The Grand Ho Tram Resort & Casino, a 5-star hotel and resort, international conference center, and heliport which opened in July 2013, as well as The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip, a links-style golf course which opened in October 2014.[92][93]
In 2005 Lee co-founded7 Days Inn, one of the largest budget hotel chains in China, to focus on the growing Chinese domestic travel industry; Lee saw tourism and the emergence of a newly rich middle class fueling the travel boom, while China has become one of the world's most-watched tourist markets.[17] In 2006,Warburg Pincus invested in 7 Days Inn. In 2007,Merrill Lynch,Deutsche Bank, andWarburg Pincus further invested in the hotel chain; in September 20097 Days Inn was listed on theNew York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SVN).[94][95] The hotel chain has grown from 5 hotels in 2 cities in 2005 to 283 hotels in 41 cities when it was listed on the NYSE. In July 2013 the founders of 7 Days Inn, together withCarlyle Group andSequoia Capital took 7 Days Inn private to form holding company Plateno Hotels Group.[96][97][98] By the end of 2014, 7 days Inn had 2,000 hotels in 320 cities. In 2015Jinjiang Hotels bought 81% of7 Days Inn. By the end of 2019, 7 Days Inn had 4,700 hotels in 450 cities.[99][100]
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