Who is John Textor? Crystal Palace co-owner has made new bid to buy Everton

The Everton takeover saga has taken another twist as American billionaire John Textor has placed a new bid for the club after reviving his interest from earlier this summer. He has openly spoken about his desire to buy the club before while a deal with 777 Partners was still on the cards.

The nature of the agreement with 777 meant that no formal discussions with other parties could take place at the time despite majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri receiving multiple offers. More recently, a deal with the Friedkin Group collapsed last month

And now Textor is back in the frame. As a Crystal Palace co-owner, he is no stranger to English football but wants to sell his stake.

READ MORE: Textor makes new bid to buy club from Moshiri

READ MORE: 'Everybody should want to buy Everton' - Textor considers takeover as he plots Crystal Palace exit

With that in mind, here is everything you need to know about Everton's prospective new owner.

Who is John Textor?

Textor is a 58-year-old American businessman who has made money through several avenues. He has been involved in snow sports, internet and technology businesses, media and entertainment.

He is the former executive chairman of streaming service FuboTV. He stepped down from that role in 2020.

What other clubs is he associated with?

In 2021, he invested £86 million for 40 per cent ownership of Crystal Palace. A year later, he bought part of the French side Lyon, again acquiring 40 per cent of the OL Group shares.

His company Eagle Football also have majority shares in Brazilian first division side Botafogo and Belgian side RWD Molenbeek. His stake in Palace means he must sell up before buying another Premier League side.

What has he said?

“Everton represents the best of English football: the struggles, the glory, the want. I love that it’s out of London. Everybody should want to buy Everton right now,” he said in an interview with the Athletic earlier this summer.

“That kind of club is what I’m referring to, where the risk and the reward of your relationship and community is so great and you could come in, make promises and keep them. How great would it be to take one of these great English clubs back to sort of glory?

“We’re also looking at other opportunities and we don’t need to jump right out of Palace right into something. That’d be a mistake.

“I suspect that the problem with Everton is it won’t be available by the time we would be ready for it. You can’t own two clubs in one league and we’re not going to rush the situation at Palace, no matter how good another opportunity looks.”

He added: “Yes (I’ve had conversations around buying Everton). With the existing constituents – different groups, different lenders, different equity holders.

“I’ve asked them ‘is there a way to solve all this confusion and address everyone’s problems?’ I’m very open-minded to it but I don’t want to come into a situation where I’m not really welcome.

“I’m watching it but 777 still has a contract. There are people that are close to the club who care a lot about it who are also investing.

“There’s the guy running it (Moshiri) who’s still calling the shots. Maybe we’re uniquely positioned to solve a lot of problems for people but we’re just watching it right now because there are other people who already own pieces of that club who also want to figure it out. I’m looking at that but it’s quite confusing and some things have to clean up.”