Daniel Levy is Tottenham’s all-seeing eye and, historically, everything at Spurs has gone through him. Recent weeks and months, however, have led some to suggest a changing of the guard is underway.
Despite the saving grace of the Europa League triumph in Bilbao, 2024-25 was a season that brought Spurs’ much-vaunted business model into question.
Since the move to the new stadium in 2019, Tottenham have been held up as an example of how to run a football club at the financial level in an ecosystem where everyone else seems to have lost their minds.
Under Daniel Levy, Spurs never spent more than they earned, their revenue soared every year, and they had invested in world-class infrastructure in a sustainable manner.
PSR was a non-issue in this pocket of North London. More time was spent monetising a growing fanbase in South Korea, building on-site hotels and cinemas, and making sure Beyonce or the Buffalo Bills were comfortable when they visited N17 rather than worrying about pesky Premier League compliance issues.
Looking from the perspective of the club’s ultimate owners, ENIC, Levy’s salary, which is regularly the highest in English football on an annual basis, is worth every penny.
However, Spurs have started to spend more than they earn – and they earn a lot.
Turnover in the last public financial year, 2023-24, was £528m. Next season, with Champions League income and the continued rise of commercial and matchday revenue, TBR Football is told they will probably hit £650m.
But the club’s transfer debt, coupled with an engorged wage bill after qualifying for Europe’s top competition, will likely mean they are cash negative, just as they were last season. The seemingly imminent signing of Mohammed Kudus meanwhile will take their net spend this summer beyond £100m.
As a result of their outgoings exceeding their incomings, the owners have had to put money into the club for the very first time. In total, ENIC have injected £122.5m in the last three financial years.
And yes, this is all despite Spurs having the division’s lowest wages-to-turnover ratio.
As Levy himself has admitted, the need for more free capital has led them to seek fresh investment. Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners, Qatari sovereign wealth and several private equity firms have been linked either with a partial or full takeover in recent times.
The changing nature of the business model meanwhile might also have driven the owners to organise a restructure at board level.
Donna-Maria Cullen, an executive director for almost 20 years, has stepped down. Former Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham meanwhile has taken on the same role at Spurs.
A few months ago, Peter Charrington joined as a non-executive director and fired the starting pistol on a strategic executive refresh. Of course, Thomas Frank – whose administrative brief will be broader than his predecessor – has also replaced Ange Postecoglou in the dugout.
And elsewhere on Planet ENIC, there are even more changes afoot.
Daniel Levy’s son now most senior figure in Tottenham ownership group Tavistock
Once upon a time, Tottenham’s ownership structure was relatively straightforward.
Through ENIC, Joe Lewis was the club’s overwhelming majority shareholder. Levy, in turn, owned about 30 per cent of ENIC, which equated to about a quarter of Spurs.
However, the question of who actually owns Tottenham Hotspur – a club routinely valued at between £2.5bn and £4bn – is not entirely clear.
Officially, Lewis transferred his shares in Spurs to a family trust in 2023 following his charges and subsequent conviction for insider trading. That trust is now overseen by Spurs board member Charrington and fellow legal professional Katie Booth.
But the ultimate owner of ENIC and the football club is Bahamas-based investment company Tavistock, whose ownership structure post-Lewis is not publicly documented.
It remains a family affair, however.
Vivienne and Charles Lewis are managing directors for Tavistock, while several others of his extended family are also in high-up positions.
Now, a new report from Bloomberg has revealed that Shehan Dissanayake has stepped down as chairman of the £6bn Tavistock empire.
The two most senior figures at the company are now Nick Beucher, the 39-year-old husband of one of Lewis’ grandchildren, and a certain Josh Levy, the son of Daniel Levy.
Levy junior, 35, is the group’s co-CEO and a member of the board of directors and executive committee, as well as acting as CEO of Ultimate Finance, a London-headquartered financial services firm owned by Tavistock.
If and when Spurs find a new equity partner, be that for an outright takeover or a minority investment, it therefore seems likely that Josh Levy could have the final sign-off – officially, at least.
UEFA FFP verdict could be huge win for Daniel Levy’s Spurs business model
It doesn’t look as though any full or part-takeover is imminent, meaning Spurs are likely to carry on with a similar business model for the time being.
The problem with that business model is that they are competing with clubs who are spending orders of magnitude more than they earn on player wages and in the transfer market.
Unlike in US franchise sport, the cost controls – Financial Fair Play, or FFP, as it used to be known – are not sufficient to keep clubs in check and ensure that inflation doesn’t eat up profits.
However, the precedent UEFA have just set with their decision to hit Chelsea, Aston Villa, Lyon and Barcelona with hefty fines and the threat of even more draconian sanctions if they do not adhere to strict financial plans in the next few years is significant.
The example it sets could, if properly enforced, slow down the rate of inflation and, from Levy and ENIC’s perspective, mean they don’t have to spend as much to compete.