William Storey - the ex-F1 sponsor set to buy crisis football club for £50m

12 October 2023 , 08:48

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William Storey is set to purchase Reading

William Storey is set to land himself a football club at the third time of asking as a deal for Reading nears.

The CEO of Rich Energy, an energy drink, is set to purchase the struggling League One outfit for £50m, subject to the test for fit and proper owners. Storey has attempted to buy Coventry City and Sunderland in the past, but failed on both occasions.

The businessman has pledged to clear the club's debt including the stadium and the state-of-the-art Bearwood Park training ground. Storey has privately vowed to invest in the squad having bought the club outright, albeit sourcing some of the funding from wealthy backers.

Earlier this week, he tweeted: "John Madejski is a Reading legend. He did a fantastic job & showed enormous commitment to the club and the town over an extended period. I hope he supports the next owner and it is important that the huge efforts & financial contribution of Dai Yongge are recognised by all."

Storey is best known for his involvement - short-lived though is was - in Formula 1 with Haas. His company signed a lucrative deal to become the title sponsor, only to later pull the plug on the deal after several comments on social media.

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The 45-year-old was born in Richmond, the town Rich Energy operated out of. He went to school in Kingston before going on to university in St Andrew's. Storey underwent several different business ventures but it is with Rich Energy that he's become most associated.

The CEO of Rich Energy got plenty of publicity when he got involved with F1 outfit Haas (Bryn Lennon)

He attempted to get involved in F1 by owning a team, reportedly putting together an offer to land Force India, now known as Aston Martin, when they hit financial difficulty, but Storey wasn't seen as a viable long-term owner. As a result, he changed his approach and became a title sponsor.

Joining forces with Haas, the F1 outfit chose to rid of their own colour scheme and adopt the black and gold colours that are seen on Rich Energy cans. Storey was vocal in his plans to overtake industry leader Red Bull - stating he wanted to beat the Austrian company "on and off the track."

Their Twitter account declared itself to be #BetterThanRedBull after finishing the first day of testing ahead of the Red Bull team. The partnership lasted only a matter of months, however, and just before the British Grand Prix, Rich Energy's official Twitter account claimed it had terminated its Haas deal.

William Storey must pass the fit and proper owner's test

That was effective immediately, which they put down to Haas' poor on-track performances. Storey, in a piece with The Sun, claimed that the team's car was like a "milk float". Later mocking their display at Silverstone, which saw both cars retire.

Last year, he was involved in another sponsorship saga, this time with British Superbike team OMG Racing Yamaha whose machines have donned the black and gold Rich Energy livery since 2020. The team issued a strange statement saying they were not sponsored by Rich Energy CEO William Storey or the company’s brand owners, but by “the global sales and distribution rights holder” for the drinks produced by Rich Energy. They added that sponsorship agreement “remains firmly in place at this time”.

Guenther Steiner, the hard-hitting team principal at Haas, who was involved in the messy divorce with Storey, said when asked: “I read it because I saw it. It’s like, here we go again – that was my only comment, here we go again. I don’t know much money these guys got, but at least we got something in the end."

Samuel Meade