Farhad Moshiri

Ardavan Farhad Moshiri (Persian: اردوان فرهاد ﻣﺸﻴﺮى; born 18 May 1955) is a British-Iranian businessman based in Monaco.[1] He is the chairman and a shareholder of USM, a diversified Russian holding company with significant interests across the metals and mining, telecoms, technology and internet sectors.

For the artist, see Farhad Moshiri (artist).

Farhad Moshiri
Moshiri in 2019
Born
Ardavan Farhad Moshiri

(1955-05-18) 18 May 1955
Iran
Nationality
  • British
  • Iranian
Alma materUniversity College London
Occupations
  • Chairman and shareholder, USM
  • Majority owner of Everton F.C.
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1988; div. 2015)​
Children2

Early life

Moshiri was born in the Imperial State of Iran, and his parents left just before the 1979 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 at University College London, and subsequently qualified in the UK as a chartered certified accountant.[2]

Career

Moshiri worked for various professional services firms including Ernst & Young (1979–1985), Pannell Kerr Forster (1985–1987) and Deloitte & 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 of Metalloinvest, following which he was appointed as chairman of USM Holdings.

Arsenal

Moshiri and longstanding business partner Alisher Usmanov were co-owners of Red & White Holdings, which bought 14.65% of the shares in Arsenal F.C. from former club vice-chairman David 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 told BBC 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."[5]

Everton

In February 2016 it was announced that Moshiri had sold his stake in Arsenal Football Club to Red & White Holdings partner Usmanov in a bid to raise capital required to launch a takeover at Everton F.C.[6] 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 the Premier League.[7] In January 2022, Moshiri increased his shares in the club to 94%.

Personal life

Moshiri lives in Monaco.[2] His former wife Nazenin Ansari is a London-based Iranian journalist, managing editor of Kayhan London, a weekly Persian-language newspaper, and series producer at Manoto, an international free-to-air Persian language TV channel.[8] They have two children.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2021, Moshiri has an estimated net worth £1.7bn.[9]

Moshiri’s daughter Azadeh is an anchorwoman for BBC World News America.

References
  1. "Business: Washington Post Business Page, Business News". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  2. Andy Hunter (1 January 1970). "Everton's new majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri likely to increase stake | Football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  3. "Everton takeover – Farhad Moshiri who is he?". Liverpool Echo. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  4. Archived copy Archived 31 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Edelman dismisses Usmanov threat". BBC Sport. 30 September 2007. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  6. "Everton poised for takeover by former Arsenal shareholder Farhad Moshiri". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  7. David Conn (25 January 2017). "The curious case of Farhad Moshiri, Alisher Usmanov and new money at Everton". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  8. Miles, Tina (27 February 2016). "Who is Farhad Moshiri's wife Nazenin Ansari?". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  9. "The Sunday Times Rich List 2021". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
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