BILL FOLEY has joined the Hibs board after acquiring a 25 percent stake in the club in return for a multi-million pound cash injection.
The American businessman already owns Premier League side Bournemouth through his Black Knight FC investment company, which also has a 40 percent stake in Ligue 1 outfit FC Lorient.
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Foley, 79, has an estimated net worth of $1.6bn and his sports empire includes three other professional teams in his homeland in ice hockey and American arena football.
Last month, we revealed how Hibs were on the brink of receiving £6m from Foley after Easter Road shareholders gave their approval to his Black Knight group.
His approach to invest £6m in return for the 25 per-cent stake was approved by the SFA in January.
Foley will now serve as a director on the board alongside partner Ryan Caswell.
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Lifelong Hibs supporter Leslie Robb will also enter the boardroom as a non-executive director.
A statement from Easter Road read: “Hibernian FC can confirm that Bill Foley, Ryan Caswell, and Leslie Robb have joined the Club’s Board.
“Following Black Knight Football Club’s (BKFC) acquisition of 25% of Hibernian FC’s shares, Bill Foley and Ryan Caswell will now become Directors.
“Bill Foley has significant experience and success running best-in-class sports franchises, large enterprises, and publicly traded companies. He is the Founder and General Partner of Black Knight Football Club, a global multi-club operator of football clubs.
“Foley led BKFC’s acquisition of AFC Bournemouth, and their 40% acquisition of FC Lorient of the French Ligue 1. In November 2023, the Australian A-Leagues officially awarded an A-Leagues expansion football club in Auckland, New Zealand to Mr Foley, expecting to begin playing in the 2024/25 season.
“Alongside this, he also owns and operates several successful entertainment properties that include the likes of the Vegas Golden Knights (a National Hockey League team), the Henderson Silver Knights (an American Hockey League team), the Vegas Knight Hawks (an Arena Football League team) and much more. Mr Foley was the first person to bring professional sports to Las Vegas in 2017 and in 2023 the Vegas Golden Knights (which Mr Foley formed as an expansion team in 2017) won the Stanley Cup Championship in just their sixth season since inception.
“Outside of sports and hospitality, Bill Foley also holds leadership positions at a number of large publicly traded companies. These are multi-billion-dollar public companies across a wide range of industries which have experienced significant success.
“Foley is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point New York, and received a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Seattle University and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Washington. In 2016 Foley became ‘A Distinguished Military Graduate’ from the United States Military Academy awarded to an individual who exemplifies the principals of Duty, Honor, Country. Less than 150 graduates have received this recognition in the 261 years of the existence of the United States Military Academy.
“Ryan Caswell has been involved with the creation and execution of Black Knight Football Club. He sits on the boards of the Holding Company and FC Lorient. He helped lead BKFC’s acquisition of AFC Bournemouth and the acquisition of shares in FC Lorient. Ryan was also involved in winning the A-League’s expansion franchise in Auckland, New Zealand.
“Away from football, Caswell has served as President of Cannae Holdings, a publicly listed NYSE company, since February 2023. He is responsible for deal execution and portfolio company management at Cannae.
“Mr Caswell also serves, or has previously served, on the boards of Cannae investments including Amerilife, CorroHealth, Black Knight Football entities, System1, and TripleTree Holdings, among others. Prior to joining Cannae, Mr Caswell was a Managing Director with the investment bank at BofA Securities, Inc. where he worked from 2008 to 2020.
“Leslie Robb also joins the Hibernian FC Board as a Non-Executive Director.
“A lifelong Hibernian FC supporter, Robb has lived in Edinburgh his entire life and became a shareholder of the Club in 2015.
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“He spent his career in the asset management industry, holding senior investment positions at Scottish Widows and Murray Johnstone, before becoming a partner of Baillie Gifford & Co in 2002.
“Since his retiral, he has held a number of non-executive positions and is a member of the Hibernian Women’s Advisory Board.”
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