Billy Beane, Chinese Billionaire Chien Lee Group Reportedly Will Buy Barnsley
Oakland Athletics vice-president Billy Beane is reportedly part of a group of investors, headed by Chinese billionaire Chien Lee, which is set to take over Championship club Barnsley.
That's according to Alex Richards of the Daily Mirror, who reports the deal will be worth roughly £20 million.
Beane―who currently owns a minority stake in the A's―is perhaps best known for his time as general manager in Oakland, where he played an instrumental role in the spread of sabermetrics in modern baseball.
English fans may be more familiar with Beane from the film Moneyball, which chronicled that period and where he was played by Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt.
According to the report, the investors will purchase 98.5 percent of Barnsley, a club from South Yorkshire which currently sits in the middle of the Championship table. The Tykes won the Football League Trophy in 2016 and have bounced between the Championship and League One in recent years.
As reported by BBC Sport, the club's current owner Patrick Cryne is terminally ill, describing his battle with cancer as "living on borrowed time" in a recent letter to fans.
