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Glen Williams

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan's net worth as fortune takes massive hit

Vincent Tan celebrated 12 years at the helm at Cardiff City back in May.

It is estimated that he has ploughed more than £200m into the club in that time, a period which has spanned two promotions to, and subsequent relegations from, the Premier League, a rebrand and a global pandemic.

Suffice to say, it's been eventful.

READ MORE: Cardiff City Supporters' Trust issue statement over behind-the-scenes meeting with club over transfer embargo

As we hurtle towards the end of 2022, though, Tan finds his beloved Bluebirds in the most precarious position ever during his dozen years in charge.

The Bluebirds are two points above the relegation zone and have been hit with a transfer ban after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in September ruled Cardiff would have to pay the first instalment of the transfer fee for Emiliano Sala to Nantes FC after almost three years of legal wrangling. For the full explanation, read this.

This latest CAS ruling comes after the Covid-19 pandemic, during which Tan's leisure empire was hit particularly hard. The same goes for the three football clubs he owns - Cardiff, FK Sarajevo and KV Kortrijk.

During the pandemic, Tan, founder of Berjaya Corporation, was dipping into his own pocket to the tune of £3m, we are told, to keep the lights on, so to speak, at Cardiff City Stadium. A considerable amount of money to add to the already substantial debt owed to him by the club.

For context, when Tan took over the Bluebirds in 2010, he had entered the Forbes billionaire list that year with an estimated worth of $1.2 billion (£1bn). At his peak, in 2014, he was worth £1.6bn (£1.32m)

Now, in 2022, his worth has almost halved from his 2016 peak net worth. According to Forbes, the 70-year-old is now worth $905m (£744m).

He in fact lost his billionaire status in 2016, six years into his Cardiff tenure.

While clearly Tan is still a multi-multi-millionaire, it paints a pretty stark picture of his diminished wealth during his most recent years in charge of the club, a role which has seemingly become a labour of love.

Tan, however, insists he still has the vim and vigour to get City back up to the Premier League and stabilise their position in the top flight before he calls time on his reign.

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Last month, in an interview with WalesOnline, he said: ""A large part of my wealth has gone to Cardiff, all my family members want me to sell ASAP. What do I tell them in response? That when when the time is right we will, but the time is not right, yet. I believe we can make this work, that I can get some of that money back.

"I'm extremely involved, we still have plans and ambition.

"Cardiff is a big city, this is a big club, we should be in the Premier League. Get back up there and this time I can learn from the mistakes made previously, and look to stay there for 10 years.

"That's the drive for me. By then I'd be 81, but hopefully I will still be able to walk well. I'm a vegetarian, I exercise, I take care of myself, don't drink a drop of liquor, don't smoke a single cigarette. I'm in good condition and I genuinely feel I can be around to help turn around the situation.

"Do you think I would be putting in money every month, particularly during the pandemic, if I didn't want success?

"A big part of my wealth is invested here and I hope it is not completely lost. I believe it's possible to turn it around. I'm an optimistic person, I insist positive things can happen when others don't believe it's possible."

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