EPL Club Owners Roman Abramovich, Stan Kroenke Make 2018 Forbes Billionaire List

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke have been named in Forbes magazine's latest list of global billionaires. 

According to the list, topped by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Russian Abramovich is worth $10.8 billion, while American Kroenke is worth $8.3 billion. 

Eclipsing both of them in the world of football is Alisher Usmanov. The Uzbek-born businessman owns 30 per cent of Arsenal and, according to Forbes, boasts wealth of $12.5 billion.

Tottenham Hotspur's owner, Joe Lewis, is also named on the list due to his $5 billion fortune, which puts him above United States President Donald Trump (estimated worth $3.1 billion).

Abramovich, 51, paved the way for the current ubiquity of foreign owners in the Premier League when he bought Chelsea for £140 million ($233 million) back in the summer of 2003.

ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images

His early splurges in the transfer market—on the likes of Hernan Crespo, Claude Makelele, Didier Drogba and Juan Sebastian Veron—and the hiring of Jose Mourinho as manager led to a brief dominance for the Blues in England as they won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006.

The west London outfit have remained a force in the English top flight ever since and become one of Europe's best clubs.

However, Chelsea's competitors responded to Abramovich's spending power. The Blues have been more moderate in their transfer outlay recently, especially when compared to Manchester City and Manchester United, per Tony Banks in the Express.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have long been playing catchup in the spending arena despite the huge wealth of their owners.

Recent splurges on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Shkodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka have ended the Gunners' reputation as a frugal club.

But it has not proved enough to propel Arsenal to the status of Premier League contenders once again.