Manchester United have entered a fourth year of paying dividends to their shareholders, a cost that has understandably angered some fans during that time.
Instead of funding transfers, wages or the redevelopment of Old Trafford , tens of millions of pounds fly out of the club like clockwork every year and straight into the pockets of millionaires.
The club has just released financial results for its financial third quarter – the three months ended 31 March 2019 – confirming the club dividend paid out during January.
And the club will pay out the same amount again in June – putting the total dividend for the year at more than £22million.
Of course, Manchester United are owned by the Glazer family – the six children of Malcolm, who died in May 2014.
These are executive co-chairmen Avram and Joel, as well as Kevin, Bryan, Darcie Glazer Kassewitz and Edward, who all sit on the club’s board of directors.
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Manchester United currently has around 165million shares in circulation – divided into 40.5million class A shares and 124million class B shares.
All of those 124million class B shares – which bestow ten times higher voting rights than class A – are owned by the Glazer children.
Meanwhile, Avram, Joel and Darcie between them hold around 3million class A shares.
The Glazers were paid at least £8.75million between them based on their holding of all of Manchester United’s class B shares.
Avram, Joel and Darcie were also paid more than £200,000 between them in addition for their class A shares.
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In all, the club paid out a dividend worth a total of £11.6million in the first three months of this year.
“A further semi-annual dividend of $0.09 per share will be paid on 5 June 2019,” the club has underlined.
Tens of millions of Manchester United class A shares are currently held by several investors – the largest chunk, more than 14million, in the possession of Ron Baron’s New York-based Baron Capital fund.
Manchester United began paying a dividend in the 2015/16 season.
The club originally paid out a $0.045 cash dividend on ordinary class A and B shares four times a year.
However, this was later changed to the current $0.09 cash dividend paid out twice a year, in January and June.
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