10 Things AC Milan Fans Should Know About Potential Owner Bee Taechaubol
The saga of whether Silvio Berlusconi will sell AC Milan has raged for months now. One of the names that has been among the potential buyers from the very beginning is Thai businessman Bee Taechaubol.
Known colloquially as "Mr. Bee," Taechaubol was thought to have had an agreement to buy the club and told reporters in his native country that AC Milan would be his in a matter of weeks. However, discussion has since turned to other bids, particularly from China.
Still, no one has succeeded in wresting the club from Berlusconi's hands, and Mr. Bee should not be counted out just yet.
But what do fans really know about him? Taechaubol isn't much of a known quantity, but today, we're going to take a look at the man who wants to buy Milan.
Here are 10 things you might not know about Taechaubol.
East Meets West
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Taechaubol was born in Thailand, but his family moved to Australia when he was a year old, according to a profile of the businessman by Goal's Kris Voakes.
That move gave Taechaubol a good sense of multiple cultures, which could prove critical if he gained control of AC Milan.
Asian owners have been popping up in Europe recently, and all have sought to market their clubs in their home markets. Some, however, have ripped apart their clubs' traditions in doing so.
Hull City's Assem Allam's attempt to change the club's name to Hull Tigers, mainly for marketing reasons, has been met with huge resistance from the club's fans.
Cardiff City is famous for their blue shirts, but when Vincent Tan took over the club, he changed the club's colors to red, in part to try to sell the team in other markets—particularly Asia, where red is considered a powerful color. Tan's change was likewise met with resistance from fans, and the club changed their home shirts back to blue in January.
The somewhat tone-deaf way these men handled their clubs is at least partially a product of a lack of familiarity with the values of their fanbases. Having been raised in Australia and exposed to both cultures, Mr. Bee can market the team in lucrative Asian markets without flying in the face of tradition—although it's probably a plus for him that Milan is already wildly popular in Asia and can be marketed without much work.
He's Not a Total Stranger to the Game
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Taechaubol has never owned a club before, but that doesn't mean he's a complete stranger to the world of soccer.
He was a prime mover in bringing his Global Legends Series of exhibitions to tour spots in Thailand and around Asia. I doing so, he's rubbed shoulders with the likes of Italian greats like Fabio Cannavaro and legendary Milan players like Alessandro Nesta and Clarence Seedorf—all men have taken part in the series at one point or another.
He has kept his distance from the spotlight in promoting the games, but he has built a reputation as a major fan and wouldn't be altogether out of his element at Milan's helm.
He Is a Long-Term Fan of Serie A and Milan
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In an interview with Voakes at Goal, Taechaubol said he started watching Serie A in the early 1990s when he was growing up in Australia. The country has a large Italian expat population, and Taechaubol said his interest in the league was sparked by the kids around him.
"It has always stuck with me," he told Voakes, "and I've never really gone for any other league."
For this reason, Taechaubol said he has turned down other opportunities to break into the soccer world, and for him, it's "Milan or nothing." He praised the club's business potential, which he described as "endless," and said he believed in "only shooting for the very top."
If he manages to acquire the Rossoneri, the fans can be assured they will have an owner who cares about their club.
He Has Hands Everywhere
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Taechaubol's family made their name in real estate, according to Voakes, but Mr. Bee has expanded that portfolio to include a diverse set of holdings.
At one point or another, Taechaubol has been at the helm of projects in construction, stock brokering, advertising, communications, cable television and film distribution.
Keeping such a diverse set of properties profitable shows a business acumen that will be needed if Milan is to recover financially and get back to its winning ways.
He Knows How to Turn Things Around
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One part of Voakes' profile on Goal could be of particular note to Milan fans.
At a time when Taechaubol was already established as a leader in the region, he extended his hand into the construction business. He acquired a company on the verge of bankruptcy and turned it into a huge success. He maneuvered the K-Tech group into position to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a local construction boom that occurred shortly after his purchase.
The business savvy to both anticipate that boom and be ready to benefit from it could be critical for Milan. The Rossoneri are far from being on the verge of collapse, but they are certainly struggling financially as well as on the field. Given his history, Mr. Bee knows how to take a struggling entity and bring it back to prosperity—certainly a trait this club could use.
He Works Fast
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Taechaubol's success story with K-Tech was achieved in just a few years, but that's not the only example of one of his business ventures getting quick results.
As Voakes points out, his stock brokerage company became wildly successful in just two years, garnering a huge market share that ended up within a spitting distance of being No. 1 in Thailand.
His ability to succeed quickly seems perfect for the world of soccer—and particularly Milan, whose fans are used to being at the top of the table and expect them back there as soon as possible. With a knack for getting things done fast, Mr. Bee could certainly be the man to get them there.
He Isn't Hugely Wealthy
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Well, at least, not by the usual standards of the owner of a soccer club.
Still, Taechaubol does not boast the personal wealth of some of the Qatari oil barons or Russian oligarchs injecting money at places like Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea over the last few years.
In March, Mike Ozanian ran a story on Forbes that put Taechaubol's yearly business turnover at $100 million. If that number is accurate, it's obvious he isn't going to be making this takeover all by himself.
Ozanian posits that his vocal posturing earlier this year was really a bluff to attract investors who could beef up a bid that he could never sustain by himself.
Ozanian also reported that two years ago, Mr. Bee had told The Worldfolio, "It isn't like I have THB10 billion ($310 million) of cash lying around, but I know where to get it."
When this quote was pointed out to him his interview with Voakes on Goal, Taechaubol was quick to clarify this meant he had an extensive web of contacts to back him in a Milan venture.
While it is certainly a plus for an owner to be able to create such a web, it's also a double-edged sword. If, for any reason, he were to lose one of those investors, Taechaubol won't be able to cover the shortfall himself—if Ozanian's look at his business is indeed correct.
If that were to happen, Milan would be right back to where it started.
He's Under Pressure
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With a lack of personal wealth, Taechaubol has been searching for investors, but Berlusconi's delays have apparently frustrated some of his backers.
According to a report from Tuttomercatoweb.com (h/t Football Italia), one of those backers (the Abu Dhabi-based bank ADS) was increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of negotiations between the parties and may have given Mr. Bee an ultimatum to complete the deal in a timely fashion.
It can't be confirmed whether the bank has actually pulled out of the deal, but it has now been almost three weeks since that report. If he did lose a significant chunk of his financial backing, it might be why media attention has focused almost exclusively on Berlusconi's negotiations with others after Mr. Bee left Milan.
His Vision Could Lean Heavily on Youth
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One byproduct of Taechaubol's connection to the Global Legends Series is the intended establishment of a string of youth academies worldwide.
Voakes has been on top of a lot of the developments around Mr. Bee since he came onto the scene, and one thing he's reported on was Mr. Bee's intent to add to the GLS academy already active in China with operations in Thailand, Abu Dhabi and Suriname.
This commitment to youth training could be a boon for Milan in more ways than one. First, it suggests that Taechaubol, as an owner, would be more willing to give younger players a chance in the first team than the current regime, which has made huge blunders in recent years by freezing out talented youngsters like 20-year-old Bryan Cristante and 23-year-old Riccardo Saponara.
It also could give Milan's youth setup access to the cream of these academies, giving them a constant stream of some of the best talent in the developing world.
One way or another, such a focus on youth development in the world of financial fair play regulations would be a welcome change to the team's current attitudes.
Berlusconi May Not Be in His Corner Anymore
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Just when things looked like they were about to get done between Berlusconi and Taechaubol, Berlusconi had a change of heart.
Since Taechaubol's trip to Milan, Berlusconi has suddenly become noncommittal about selling the club at all. On May 9, he made a curious comment that many took to be a swipe at the man he had been negotiating with.
"I am looking for someone who will put capital into Milan straight away," he told Telenord (h/t Football Italia). "I am prudent because I won't sell to someone who is looking for immediate popularity."
Coming so soon after his face-to-face negotiations with Taechaubol concluded, these comments suggest Berlusconi sees Mr. Bee as a dilettante rather than someone who is serious about Milan, despite the potential buyer saying he has a passion for the team. This could be why he has since moved on to other bid options and why Taechaubol has since left the picture for the most part.
The key to any transaction is the willingness of the seller, and if Berlusconi isn't interested in selling to Mr. Bee, the Thai magnate may have finally hit the wall of failure with his attempt at acquiring the club.
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