James Anderson of Baillie Gifford has been revealed as the philanthropist discussed by Ann Budge as a potential benefactor of Scottish football.
The revelation comes in today’s Daily Record and unlike their Craig Whyte unveiling in 2010 Anderson and Baillie Gifford have easy to research profile with their back story and wealth clearly on the radar.
Anderson was raised in Norfolk and along with a couple of others has been behind £9m of mystery invstment that has shown up in Hearts’ accounts over the last few years.
Detailing Anderson and Baillie Gifford’s portfolio the Record claims:
Anderson controls a trust that’s worth almost £10 billion and which holds an £850 million investment in Amazon, £800 million in electric car manufacturer Tesla and £600 million in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
He has a stake worth £250 million in Ferrari, £50 million in Facebook, £300 million in Netflix, £160 million in Spotify and £285 million in Kering, owners of luxury goods companies Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen.
But it’s Forfar and Montrose, Stranraer, East Fife and Albion Rovers among others that could soon benefit from his amazing largesse.
Budge brought up the possible introduction of a philanthropist during an interview with Radio Scotland on Saturday which seemed to be an attempt to garner support for her League Reconstruction plan of 14-14-14 which appears unlikely to get off the ground.
With it’s lack of transparency and the derision that it is held in by a large section of Scottish society it is hard to see a philanthropist or any sort of ethical investor wanting to get on board with people like Rod Petrie, Neil Doncaster and Andrew Dickson.
The corporate world has largely disassociated itself with Scottish football with the two main tournaments going unsponsored even before the current crisis.
Riding in tandem is the new broadcasting deal which despite the near universal popularity of the game is worth far less than the telly deals in countries such as Norway and Austria where football doesn’t hold the same domination position.
A vote on League Reconstruction is expected this week.