West Ham is currently 100% privately owned by interests of Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, an Icelandic banker.
Taking over West Ham United would be a far easier proposition than attempting to take over a football club owned by a public company or a private company with splintered ownership.
Points of interest:
It is well known that West Ham is England's most traditional club: until the late 1980s the club had only employed five managers in its entire history. Indeed, until Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson bought the club in 2006 the board of directors remained composed of Arnold Hills' descendents.
In 2002, the club effected a share buyback to clear the ownership roll of numerous shareholders who had died, unrecorded, during the Blitz of East London during the Second World War. After purchasing the 5% stake of his fellow purchaser, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson became, in 2007, the first sole owner of West Ham United since its earliest founding years.
UPDATE 07/10/08: with the collapse of the Icelandic economy and the nationalisation of Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's bank Landsbanki, the prospect of a sale has drawn much closer. If rumours are true that the club is owned by an implicated investment banking asset of Gudmundsson rather than personally, West Ham could be sold within a matter of days as the Icelandic government instructs its domestic banking sector to liquidate foreign holdings.
UPDATE 07/10/08: with the collapse of the Icelandic economy and the nationalisation of Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's bank Landsbanki, the prospect of a sale has drawn much closer. If rumours are true that the club is owned by an implicated investment banking asset of Gudmundsson rather than personally, West Ham could be sold within a matter of days as the Icelandic government instructs its domestic banking sector to liquidate foreign holdings.
