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John Textor

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John Charles Textor (born September 30, 1965) is an American businessman. He is the former executive chairman of streaming television service FuboTV. He has been recognized for his work in the fields of digital media and entertainment with the nickname "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru".[2][3]

John Textor
Textor in 2024
Born
John Charles Textor

(1965-09-30) September 30, 1965 (age 59)
Kirksville, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation(s)CEO of Facebank, Inc.
former Executive Chairman of FuboTV (Facebank Group, Inc.)
Known forCo-owner of Crystal Palace, owner of Botafogo, RWD Molenbeek, and OL Groupe (Olympique Lyonnais)
RelativesHamilton Macfarland Barksdale,[1] VP and Director of duPont (great-great grandfather)
Ethel Barksdale duPont (great-grandmother)

Textor is the majority owner and chairman of Eagle Football Holdings Limited, the leading shareholder of professional football clubs Botafogo, Crystal Palace F.C., Olympique Lyonnais, and RWD Molenbeek.[4][5]

Early life

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John Textor was born as a member of the extended du Pont family in 1965. Textor claims to have grown up in a middle-class family in the Palm Beach area in Florida whilst spending his summers working for freight delivery companies.[6] Textor competed in freestyle skateboarding competitions around Florida as part of the Sims Skateboards team.[7] According to Craig Snyder's A Secret History of the Ollie, [page 464 ] Textor was said to have been "one of the few who surpassed [multiple world champion] Rodney Mullen in freestyle competition during" the late 1970s".[8] Textor left competitive skateboarding in the early 1980s to focus on other interests after sustaining a severe head injury in competition. Textor claimed this accident was the reason he turned toward his education and to technology interests at a young age.[9]

Business career

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Action Sports

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Sims Snowboards

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Having acquired Sims Snowboards in 1996,[10] Textor served as chairman of the board and the principal owner.[11] During his tenure, and utilizing the trademarks owned by his partner and snowboard pioneer Tom Sims, he created the World Snowboarding Championship at Whistler, British Columbia.[12]

Internet Businesses

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Art Technology Group

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Textor's holding company, Wyndcrest Partners, funded the struggling company in 1996.[13] Wyndcrest guided ATG through an IPO in 1999 resulting in a liquid valuation of $10 billion.[14]

JesterDigital

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According to The Palm Beach Post, Textor's Jester Digital created an internet-based 3-D multi-user virtual world, referred to as the "metaverse" in 1999.[15][16] Jester Digital's new technology was the first digital distribution platform to be endorsed by Metallica and was also supported by joint-ventures with leading digital rights management companies, such as IBM, and strategic relationships with leading music artists and action sports companies. Jester Digital Corporation was among the earliest to create internet-based multi-user virtual reality and game-like environments which paved the way for the convergence of music and the internet, massive multi-player games, and the digital distribution of entertainment content.[17]

Virtual Bank/Lydian Trust Company

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Textor was a founding director of Virtual Bank in the year 2000, an Internet banking startup. Virtual Bank was a multi-billion dollar diversified financial services company and included a private wealth business known as Lydian Trust Company.[18][19]

BabyUniverse

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In the early 2000s, Textor took control of BabyUniverse,[20] a struggling online retailer.[21] He took the company public in 2005 selling 2 million shares of common stock, equivalent to approximately $16.5 million.[22] Using proceeds from the IPO, Textor purchased other online retailers and a marketing company to help build the brand. BabyUniverse saw an increase in revenues from $1 million to $40 million, resulting in the October 2007 sale of BabyUniverse into a reverse merger and change of control transaction with eToys.com, a well-known e-commerce company, controlled by D.E. Shaw. Textor resigned as CEO at the time of the merger, with BabyUniverse stock trading at its all-time high of $12.00 per share, having nearly tripled from its low in February of that same year. He later became Chairman of eToys.[23][24][25][26][27]

Digital Domain

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In May 2006, Textor as one of the principals of Wyncrest Holdings, acquired Digital Domain. Other principals included film director Michael Bay and former NFL player, Dan Marino. According to Variety an inside source claimed that the buyers purchased the company for an estimated $35 million.[28]

Digital Domain won an Academy Award in 2009 for Achievement in Visual Effects for creating a believable digital human actor in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This achievement, known as the ‘Holy Grail of "Visual Effects" by The Hollywood Reporter.[29]

In 2011, Digital Domain Media Group entered into the film production business with a major investment into the feature film Ender's Game.[30] Textor is credited as Producer and Executive Producer on the film.[31][32]

Textor's team of around 20 artists organized the 2012 appearance of Virtual Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Valley Music Festival.[33][34][35] The performance earned Textor's studio the Titanium Award at the 59th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.[36][37]

Digital Domain went bankrupt in 2012 and a short time later, Textor was sued by the state of Florida for $80M.[38]

The Supreme Court of New York and the Inspector General of the State of Florida cleared Textor of any financial wrongdoing,[39][40] and The Athletic reported that he had received a settlement from the hedge fund that caused the collapse.[41][42] The settlement awarded Textor $8.5 million in financial damages and assigned all technology assets of Digital Domain's Florida studio.[43][44]

SEC filings demonstrate that Textor used the award of these technology assets to launch the business that would ultimately become fuboTV.[45] Textor went on to launch Facebank in 2013.[43][44] "a technology-driven intellectual property company engaged in the development and promotion of human likeness technologies" and, in 2020, he bought sports streaming platform fuboTV, merging the two businesses before floating them on the New York Stock Exchange as FuboTV Inc.[41][46]

Pulse Evolution

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In late 2013, Textor organized a group of former Digital Domain employees to create Pulse Evolution Corporation.[47] Pulse Evolution Corporation is a globally recognized pioneer in the development of hyper-realistic digital humans for live shows, virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic, 3D stereoscopic, web, mobile, interactive and artificial intelligence applications.[48] Pulse Evolution showcased its technology with a holographic performance of Virtual Michael Jackson at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards[49][50]

Technology, Media and Entertainment

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fuboTV (Facebank Group)

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Main article: FuboTV

According to a 2019 SEC filing Facebank Group previously operated as Pulse Evolution Group and Recall Studios. The organization's filing described them as a digital human technology company, focused on the development, collection, protection and preparation of the personal digital likeness assets, of celebrities and consumers, for use in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking.[51] When it acquired Fubo TV. Allywatch described the acquisition as a reverse merger that effectively enabled Fubo TV to operate as a public company.[52] Fubo claimed that the merger expanded the organization's presence in the over-the-top television industry[53][54]

 
Fubo TV's Logo c. 2017

In April 2020, Textor completed the acquisition of fuboTV Media.[55] via zoom call.[56] Thusly, Fubo went public.[57] and in under two years, grew to an NYSE-listed market value of more than $6 billion.[58]

In the spring of 2020, Textor resigned from his post as Executive Chairman of fuboTV. At the time of his resignation from fuboTV, and through completion of the company's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, Textor remained the largest shareholder of fuboTV.[59][60]

FuboTV grew rapidly in value as a public company, moving from the over-the-counter market, to the New York Stock Exchange, to the Russell 3000 index in only nine months.[61]

Football

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In August 2021, Textor invested £86million for 40% ownership in Crystal Palace Football Club,[62] joining Steve Parish, Josh Harris, and David Blitzer as co-owner.[63] Textor was also linked to efforts to purchase Brentford FC, Watford FC and Newcastle United.[64][65]

In 2024, Textor criticized UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations and the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules for allegedly preventing smaller clubs from challenging for titles. He pointed out that Nottingham Forest had been deducted points under these rules despite the wealth of owner Evangelos Marinakis.[66] He also said that he had been criticized by Crystal Palace's left-wing ultras for buying Lyon, a team with right-wing ultras, to which he responded "Well I don't care, this has nothing to do with football".[66]

In January 2022, Textor signed a binding offer to purchase 90% ownership in Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas SAF, one of the greatest football clubs in brazilian football history. According to the Belgian press, Textor acquired 80% of RWD Molenbeek in the same week.[67]

On June 20, 2022, Textor became the owner of Olympique Lyonnais by acquiring 40% of the OL Group shares, held by IDG Capital and Pathé, and the majority of shares previously held by Jean-Michel Aulas.[68][69] On December 19, 2022, The Financial Times reported that Textor had acquired a 77.49% stake in the club through his investment vehicle, Eagle Football Holdings. The reported total value of the deal was $940 million (€884 million).[70]

In a 2024 interview with BBC Sport, Textor criticized Paris Saint-Germain for having ownership by the Qatar Investment Authority, and said that it was illegal under European law for a foreign nation to invest in a company.[66]

References

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  1. ^ Ernest, Dale; Meloy, Charles (1962). "Hamilton MacFarland Barksdale and the DuPont Contributions to Systematic Management". The Business History Review. 36 (2): 127–152. doi:10.2307/3111452. JSTOR 3111452. S2CID 145225258. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  2. ^ Melanie Lee (2016-03-31). "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru Looks East". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru
  3. ^ Oisin Lunny (2020-04-27). "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru Looks East". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Facebank CEO John Textor has been at the leading edge of digital likenesses since the early days of VRML.
  4. ^ "John Textor's Company Wants to Take Lyon Public". Front Office Sports. 2023-01-18. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  5. ^ "Textor's Eagle Football 'plans US flotation' of multi-club business". Sport Business. 2023-01-18. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  6. ^ "19 Sep 2010, Page A001 - The Palm Beach Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  7. ^ Joslin, Hunter (2018-01-01). "Indo Board History - The Indo Board Story". Retrieved 2021-01-30. The Sims team, consisting of Mike Folmer, Scott "Red" McCranels, Chris West, Chuck Lagana and John Textor dominated the Florida skateboard competition scene.
  8. ^ "Textor foi skatista 'top' e integrou time lendário do esporte nos anos 70". www.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  9. ^ Cohen, Ted (2016-05-05). "John Textor: Master of Surreality, Keynote Interview by Ted Cohen". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-01-31. Had I not landed on my head that day, I am sure I would not be sitting here, in front of all of you
  10. ^ Abramson, Andrew (2010-09-19). "Ups, downs just business as usual for studio boss poised to change West Palm Beach". www.palmbeachpost.com. Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2021-01-31.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ "SIMS OWNER SETS RECORD STRAIGHT". snowboarder.com. Snow Boarder. 2002-03-01. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Sims Owner John Textor discussed the current situation with Sims Snowboards
  12. ^ "Whistler to host World Snowboarding Championship once again". Pique Newsmagazine. 2001-02-02. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  13. ^ "16 Jun 2013, Page A013 - The Palm Beach Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  14. ^ "Combination Creates Best-in-Class CRM and Cross-Channel Commerce Solution".
  15. ^ Mike Vogel (2009-11-01). "Animated Decision for Digital Studio". floridatrend.com. Florida Trend. Retrieved 2021-08-11. website developer Jester Digital, online retailer Babyuniverse and Virtual Bank.
  16. ^ "18 Jan 2001, Page 35 - The Palm Beach Post at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  17. ^ "SERIOUS OPPORTUNITY". Sun Sentinel. 10 November 2000.
  18. ^ "John Textor, Chairman, Multicast Media Networks". www.topionetworks.com. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  19. ^ "Bank by Microsoft". Institutional Investor. 31 May 2003. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  20. ^ "John Textor Chairman at Multicast Media Networks". topionetworks.com. Topio Network. Retrieved 2021-08-13. Since 2002, he has served as chairman and CEO of BabyUniverse, Inc.
  21. ^ Brian Bandell (2005-09-08). "With IPO, online retailer outgrows training pants". bizjournals.com. South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Wyndcrest Partners, a Hobe Sound-based venture capital firm headed by John Textor, who doubles as chairman and CEO of Baby Universe.
  22. ^ "Stock Offerings Scheduled for This Week". The New York Times. 2005-08-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  23. ^ "UPDATE 1-BabyUniverse enters into all-stock merger". Reuters. March 14, 2007 – via www.reuters.com.
  24. ^ "BabyUniverse Merging with eToys Direct". Multichannel Merchant. April 1, 2007.
  25. ^ "BabyUniverse acquires PoshTots". January 19, 2006.
  26. ^ "BabyUniverse Acquires ePregnancy Assets". Writers Write.
  27. ^ "PoshTots bought by BabyUniverse". callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com.
  28. ^ Ben Fritz (2006-05-15). "Digital Domain docks with Bay". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The purchaser of record is Wyndcrest Holdings, whose principals are Bay, Marino, former Microsoft exec Carl Stork, former Sims Snowboards chair John C. Textor and Jonathan Teaford, formerly of GE Capital Services.
  29. ^ Carolyn Giardina (2009-02-22). "'Benjamin Button' is VFX's Holy Grail". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The win also delivered lead VFX facility Digital Domain its first VFX Academy Award
  30. ^ Richard Vierrier (2013-10-23). "For 'Ender's Game,' effects house Digital Domain took a bigger role". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The movie also is a test for the film's co-producer, Digital Domain
  31. ^ "First Look at Ender's Game starring Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield!". imdb.com. IMDB. 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-11. John Textor Produce.
  32. ^ Michael Cieply (2013-01-14). "A Movie Mogul Rising". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-08-11. In putting together "Ender's Game," for instance, OddLot joined Digital Domain in providing about 75 percent of the budget
  33. ^ Dave McNary (2016-02-05). "Hologram Specialist Pulse Receives $10 Million Investment From Chinese Companies". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Pulse Evolution's executive chairman John Textor gained notice for the computer-generated animation of Tupac Shakur
  34. ^ Rowell, David (2021-07-10). "The Spectacular, Strange Rise of Music Holograms". The Washington Post Magazine. washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  35. ^ Sean Michaels (2014-05-15). "Will Michael Jackson's hologram dance at the Billboard music awards?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Billboard producers have hired John Textor, who created the hologram of Tupac Shakur for Coachella festival in 2012
  36. ^ Richard Verrier (2012-06-25). "'Virtual 2Pac' image wins award for Digital Domain". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-08-11. the company had received a Titanium Award at the 59th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for its virtual performance of the late rap star Tupac Shakur.
  37. ^ Kaitlyn Tiffany (2018-10-23). "No industry is weirder than the dead celebrity hologram industry". vox.com. Vox. Retrieved 2021-08-11. This hologram, created by special effects company Digital Domain
  38. ^ Kaitlyn Tiffany (2018-10-23). "No industry is weirder than the dead celebrity hologram industry". vox.com. Vox. Retrieved 2021-08-12. I did prevail in the lawsuit and was awarded the largest settlement out of the lawsuit.
  39. ^ "Supreme Court of New York Terminates Lawsuit against John Textor". PRWeb. Cision PR Web. 2021-08-21. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The Supreme Court of the State of New York ordered a convincing summary judgment in favor of John Textor, terminating a lawsuit against the former CEO of Digital Domain Media Group. The Court found no evidence of fraud or misrepresentation and confirmed that DDMG accurately disclosed its financial situation to investors. The Court further ordered the plaintiffs to reimburse Mr. Textor for his fees and court costs.
  40. ^ Review of the Economic Incentive Award to Digital Domain Media Group (PDF) (Report). Executive Office of the Governor. p. 2. 2013-11. Retrieved 2021-08-11. we found no apparent violations of law, rule, or regulation in the award of $20 million economic development funds to Digital Domain in 2009.
  41. ^ a b Matt Slater (2021-07-10). "Crystal Palace takeover: Benfica arrests cast doubt over Textor's partnership plans". theathletic.com. The Athletic. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Since then, he has rebuilt his reputation and wealth.
  42. ^ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (2018-10-23). "Amy Winehouse is going on tour: The dead celebrity hologram industry, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  43. ^ a b Nicole Rodriguez (2016-05-24). "Port St. Lucie, state each gets $3 million in Digital Domain settlement; Textor to get $8.5 million". tcpalm.com. TC Palm. Retrieved 2021-08-11. The city, the state and former Digital Domain CEO John Textor all will get multimillion-dollar payouts from a settlement in the two-year-old lawsuit against the defunct Digital Domain Media Group.
  44. ^ a b Bruno Moore (2016-06-03). "Courts make decision on Digital Domain accusations". yourvoiceweekly.com. Your Voice Weekly. Retrieved 2021-08-11. the court concluded that the investors showed no clear sign that fraud was perpetrated
  45. ^ "Pulse Evolution Group, Inc". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  46. ^ Jim Robertson. "Mike Ashley knock back on John Textor bid to buy Newcastle United revealed". themag.co.uk. The Mag. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Textor was sued by investors but cleared by the courts and indeed received £6m compensation from hedge funds who were found to have been behind the company's collapse.
  47. ^ Kim Lachance Shandrow (2014-07-02). "Smoke and Mirrors: Why We Aren't Seeing More Digital Zombies Like Michael Jackson". nbcnews.com. NBC News. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Pulse Evolution Corporation, a Port St. Lucie, Fla.-based digital human animation and production startup launched last October
  48. ^ Facebank Group Inc. (June 10, 2019). "Pulse Evolution Group Reports 2018 Audited Results". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release).
  49. ^ Spencer Lowell (2018-08-05). "Inside the bitter war to bring Tupac and Michael Jackson back to life". wired.co.uk.com. Wired. Retrieved 2021-08-13. The performance, at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, was the latest in a stream of holograms featuring deceased artists.
  50. ^ Melanie Lee (2016-03-31). "Hollywood's Virtual Reality Guru Looks East". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-11. Over John Textor's long career in Hollywood, he and his team have digitally resurrected Michael Jackson for the Billboard Music Awards
  51. ^ "Pulse Evolution Group becomes Facebank Group as Europe Acquisition Drives Digital Human Industry Growth Plan" (Press release). Intrado Global Newswire. 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  52. ^ Reza Chowdhury. "fuboTV Acquired by FaceBank Group". alleywatch.com. Alley Watch. Retrieved 2021-08-12. fuboTV will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of FaceBank Group
  53. ^ Krystal Hu (2020-03-23). "FuboTV to merge with FaceBank; sources say values FuboTV at $700 million". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 2021-08-12. Streaming provider FuboTV said on Monday that it had agreed to merge with virtual entertainment firm FaceBank Group Inc
  54. ^ "Facebank Group SEC Form 10-Q Sep 30_2019". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2021-02-08. FaceBank Group, Inc. is a digital human technology company, focused on the development, collection, protection and preparation of the personal digital likeness assets, of celebrities and consumers, for use in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking.
  55. ^ David Bloom (2020-03-23). "Skinny Bundle FuboTV Beefs Up Amid COVID-19 Storm In Merger With Facebank Group". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-12. Sports-oriented streaming-video service FuboTV announced it will merge with technology developer Facebank Group
  56. ^ Dinesh Nair, Liana Baker, David Hellier (2020-03-24). "Dealmakers Getting Creative After Virus Upends M&A Market". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved 2021-08-12. FaceBank and FuboTV executives wrapped up their final rounds of negotiations last week on Zoom{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  57. ^ Rick Munarriz (2020-12-28). "This Was the Top-Performing IPO in 2020". fool.com.com. The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2021-08-12. You more than tripled your investment if you were able to get in on the IPOs for Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), Lemonade (NYSE:LMND), and fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO).
  58. ^ Jon Lafayette (2020-04-02). "FuboTV Emerges After Combining with FaceBank". nexttv.com.com. Broadcasting+Cable. Retrieved 2021-08-12. FuboTV and FaceBank Group said they completed their merger agreement and that the combined company will be called fuboTV.
  59. ^ "Facebank Group SEC Form 8-K Mar_23_2020". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2021-02-08. The effect of the Stock Exchange Ratio and the voting provisions of the Series AA Preferred Stock is to initially establish a two-thirds majority ownership of FaceBank on a common equivalent basis for the fuboTV shareholders while preserving a majority voting interest for the FaceBank shareholders.
  60. ^ "Beneficial Ownership of Securities". SEC.gov. Securities Exchange Commission. 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2021-02-08. John Textor 12.01 percent
  61. ^ "fuboTV Set to Join Russell 3000® Index". businesswire.com. Businesswire. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-02-08. fuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO), the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform, is set to join the broad-market Russell 3000® Index at the conclusion of the 2021.
  62. ^ "Will U.S. owner John Textor's 'Botafogo Way' produce the Bayern Munich of Brazilian football?". ESPN.com. 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  63. ^ Jack Rosser (2021-08-11). "Crystal Palace: American businessman John Textor buys stake in club". www.standard.co.uk. Evening Standard. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  64. ^ Kieran Maguire (2021-07-16). "Maguire: Ashley 'convinced' by Premier League's 'green light to PiF' as rival Newcastle takeover bid rejected". www.footballinsider247.com. Football Insider. Retrieved 2021-08-11. American digital media tycoon has been looking to buy an English club for over a year and held a concrete interest in Newcastle.
  65. ^ "Overseas investor placed deposit on Newcastle takeover only for Mike Ashley to 'change his mind'". www.chroniclelive.co.uk. Chronicle Live. 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-08-11. An American investor placed a deposit down for a potential takeover of Newcastle United - only for Mike Ashley to 'change his mind'.
  66. ^ a b c Howell, Alex (February 29, 2024). "Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor Q&A: Parish, fan protests, Hodgson, Glasner". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  67. ^ Hellier, David. "The Florida financiers buying up Europe's football teams". Fin24. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  68. ^ Dautel, Claude (June 20, 2022). "L'OL vendu à John Textor, l'homme qui vaut 3 milliards !". foot01.com.
  69. ^ "Lyon's new U.S. majority shareholder John Textor seeks to end Paris Saint-Germain's dominance". ESPN. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  70. ^ "US investor John Textor completes Lyon takeover". Financial Times. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
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