Farhad Moshiri | |
|---|---|
 Moshiri in 2019 | |
| Born | Ardavan Farhad Moshiri (1955-05-18)18 May 1955 (age 70) |
| Alma mater | University College London |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Ardavan Farhad Moshiri (Persian:اردوان فرهاد ﻣﺸﻴﺮى; born 18 May 1955) is a British-Iranian businessman based inMonaco.[1] He is the former majority owner and board member of English Premier League teamEverton, and is the former chairman ofUSM Holdings, a Russian holding company.
Moshiri was born in theImperial State of Iran, and his parents left just before the1979 revolution.[2] His father, Majid, (1926–2020) was an army doctor who trained as a pathologist and later became a senior military judge and his mother's family owned Iran's leading publishing house,Kayhan.[3] He studied economics and statistics atUniversity College London, and subsequently qualified in the UK as achartered certified accountant.[2]
Moshiri worked for various professional services firms includingErnst & Young (1979–1985),Pannell Kerr Forster (1985–1987) andDeloitte & Touche (1987–1992), latterly as a senior manager in Deloitte's audit division.[4] Between 1993 and 2006, he served as Executive Director of GNE Group plc and later served as Chief Executive Officer of Europe Steel Limited (formerly Europe Steel plc) from 2000 to 2008. Between 2006 and 2013, he served as the chairman ofMetalloinvest, following which he was appointed as chairman of USM Holdings. He resigned as Chairman of USM Holdings on 2 March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5][6]
Moshiri and longstanding business partnerAlisher Usmanov were co-owners of Red & White Holdings, which bought 14.65% of the shares inArsenal from former club vice-chairmanDavid Dein in August 2007. On 18 September 2007, Red and White Holdings increased their stake in Arsenal to 21%, and on 28 September 2007 to 23%, a week after Moshiri announced that he wanted at least a 25% holding in the football club. As of June 2012, Red and White Holdings have acquired at least 29.72%. Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman toldBBC Radio 5 Live, "They've said previously they are not going to make a bid for the company and they want to be long-term shareholders."[7]
In February 2016, it was announced that Moshiri had sold his stake in Arsenal to Red & White Holdings to partner Usmanov in a bid to raise capital required to launch a takeover atEverton.[8] On 27 February, the club officially confirmed Moshiri's purchase of a 49.9% stake in the club, which was ratified two weeks later by thePremier League.[9] In January 2022, Moshiri increased his shares in the club to 94%. In September 2024, he agreed to sell his shares in Everton to CEO of The Friedkin Group and owner of Italian clubRoma,Dan Friedkin, a deal which was completed on December 19th, 2024.[10]
Moshiri lives in Monaco.[2] His former wifeNazenin Ansari is a London-based Iranian journalist, managing editor ofKayhan London, a weekly Persian-language newspaper, and series producer atManoto, an international free-to-air Persian language TV channel.[11] They have two children.
According to theSunday Times Rich List in 2021, Moshiri has an estimated net worth £1.7bn.[12]
Moshiri’s daughter Azadeh is a regular newsreader for BBC World News.[13]
