Ellis Short (born October 6, 1960) American businessman and founder of

Kildare Partners Kildare Partners is a London-based private equity fund investing in distressed European real estate assets, founded by the Irish-American billionaire Ellis Short, the Chief Investment Officer. History Kildare Partners was founded in London in ...

, a

private equity fund A private equity fund (abbreviated as PE fund) is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity ...

investing in distressed European real estate assets. Short was also the owner and chairman of English football club

Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...

from September 2008 to April 2018.

Early life

Ellis Short was born in

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...

, and attended

William Chrisman High School William Chrisman High School is a high school located in Independence, Missouri, United States, as part of the Independence School District. History The school was founded in 1888 and was known as Independence High School. The first building was ...

. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering at the

Missouri University of Science and Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T, is a public research university in Rolla, Missouri. It is a member institution of the University of Missouri System. Most of its 7,645 students (fall 2020) study engineering, busin ...

in 1983.

Career

After graduating, Short worked for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

beginning in 1983. In 1995, Short joined Lone Star Funds, a Dallas-based private equity firm, becoming president of the fund and heading its Asian operations. In 2003, Short paid £23 million for

Skibo Castle Skibo Castle (Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Sgìobail'') is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although largely of the 19th century and early 20th century, when it was the hom ...

, which operates as a members-only hotel and country club in Scotland. The castle is famous for hosting Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie in 2000. In 2013, Short formed a new company, Kildare Partners, to invest in distressed property assets and non-performing debt.

Sunderland AFC

In September 2008, Short gained a controlling interest in

In December of that year, Short worked on completing a deal with the Drumaville Consortium for their remaining shares in the club. After the Sunderland A.F.C. ownership change,

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

left the club. Short assumed ownership of the club in May 2009. His purchase of the club made Sunderland the fourth club in the Premier League to have American owners, alongside

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. In November 2011, Short sacked

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...

after a poor run of results, which Short labelled 'not good enough'. Nine days later,

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

was appointed Bruce's successor. O'Neill himself was succeeded by Italian ex-footballer

Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward ...

in 2013. Di Canio, in turn, was dismissed in September 2013 after a poor start to the Premier League season. Gus Poyet was put in charge of the first team and guided Sunderland to Premier League safety, but he was replaced late in the 2014–15 campaign by Dick Advocaat, who helped the team avoid relegation and secure its top-flight status for 2015–16. Advocaat's replacement,

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

, left the club in July 2016 and was replaced by David Moyes, who in turn resigned after Sunderland finished last in the 2016–17 season and were relegated to the EFL Championship.

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in ...

was appointed manager in June 2017. After a dire run of results, Grayson was dismissed after a 3-3 home draw with fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers. Ex-Wales manager, Chris Coleman was appointed as the new Sunderland manager on November 19, 2017. However, Sunderland were relegated on April 21, 2018. Coleman was sacked and the club sold on April 29, 2018 to a consortium headed by

Stewart Donald Stewart Donald (born 1974/1975) is an English businessman and football administrator. Based in Witney, Oxfordshire, he is the former chairman and majority shareholder of Sunderland A.F.C. and former CEO of Bridle Insurance. Career As of 2018, Do ...

, chairman of

Eastleigh F.C. Eastleigh Football Club is a professional association football club based in Eastleigh, Hampshire, England. They currently compete in and play their home matches at The Silverlake Stadium. History Formation to Wessex League (1946–1986) Th ...

Personal life

He is married to former tennis player Eve Zimmerman. In 2021, the

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...

estimated his net worth at £880 million. Short was a resident of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England for many years but returned to the United States in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Ellis 1960 births American billionaires American financial businesspeople American people of Irish descent English football chairmen and investors Living people Missouri University of Science and Technology alumni People from Independence, Missouri Sunderland A.F.C. directors and chairmen Irish billionaires American emigrants to Ireland Irish financial businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century Irish businesspeople