Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe both missed Wednesday’s deadline for putting in their latest bids. However, they maintain been granted an extension and were expected to produce offers on Thursday.

The 20-time English champions received first-round bids from Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim worth about £4.5 billion. This is less than the Glazer family’s asking price by £1.5bn.

After closely two decades in charge of United, the Glazer family maintain drawn heavy criticism for their lack of investment and involvement in the club.

Despite recent on-pitch troubles at aged Trafford (the club had not won a trophy for six years until their Carabao Cup success in February 2023), the Red Devils still rank among the most popular and marketable football teams in the world. They maintain won the English top-flight title a record 20 times and the European Cup three times, among a host of other trophies.

So who are the Glazer family and why they open to selling United?

Who are the Glazer family?

Malcolm Glazer was a businessman and owner of a sports franchise in America, who died in 2014. Born in novel York, he started out at his father’s watch parts company aged eight. When he was 15, his father died and he sold watches door to door to support his family.

In his later years, Glazer was the owner of United and the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was also the president and chief executive of First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his multiple business endeavours.

United are currently owned by his six children. The Glazers bought the club for £790 million in 2005, in a highly leveraged deal that has been criticised for loading debt on to the club.

They sold 10 per cent of their holding via the 2012 US listing and maintain sold more shares since but retain majority ownership. United’s valuation as a public company peaked at $4.3bn (£3.4bn) in 2018. They were worth $2.5bn (£2.1bn) at the close of US trading recently.

What is their net worth?

Forbes estimated the family’s worth at £3.9bn.

What finish the Glazer family own?

Glazer’s six children, Avram, Bryan, Darcie, Edward, Joel, and Kevin, own United after he acquired the bulk of the club’s shares through the investment firm Red Football Ltd in 2005.

The six Glazer children each received an equal share of their father’s 90 per cent controlling stake after he died due to a protracted illness.

Since their father’s stroke in April 2006, Joel and Avram maintain been in charge of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the club. They are co-chairmen and Bryan, Darcie, Edward, and Kevin serve as directors.

Avram Glazer offered shares worth £70m for sale in March 2021.

Why are the family considering selling Manchester United?

The Glazers are considering selling United because of debt.

The club was debt-free when the Glazers took ownership in 2005. However, the purchase agreement recommended by former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is said to maintain added more than £500m in debt to the company.

To the dismay of fans, Malcolm Glazer used a leveraged buyout scheme to finance a large portion of the takeover rather than using his own funds.

This entails borrowing funds against a future asset to purchase that item; in this example, interest payments total more than £60m annually.

It has been widely claimed that the buyout has cost the club more than £1bn in interest and other expenses over the years.

Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the club’s debt had increased by 133 per cent to £474m by the conclude of 2020.

Since 2015, the club has paid an annual dividend, most of which goes to the Glazers, and the company’s tax registration was transferred from aged Trafford to the Cayman Islands in 2012.

The club’s 2018–19 financial statements included dividends totalling £23m. The six Glazer siblings apparently shared about £18m of this.

Club income has more than doubled since 2005 and United was ranked the third-most-valuable football club in the world by Forbes last May. This was largely due to the significant and diversified commercial partnerships inked under the Glazers.

The club was fourth in the 2023 Deloitte Football Money League, an annual profile of the highest revenue-generating clubs in world football, behind Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Manchester City.