Man of many parts: Meet the new Saints’ owner
Shanghai: The self-made Chinese millionaire who bought an 80 percent stake in Southampton was once a farmer, spent his formative years in the armed police and fancies himself as a poet.
Gao Jisheng became just the latest Chinese tycoon to plough money into English football when he stumped up a reported £200 million ($256 million) for “a partnership” at the Premier League club last week.
He adds to a growing cast of colourful overseas owners pumping money into English clubs.
Gao keeps a low profile and his move on Southampton did not make major news in China.
He does however maintain his own website, in which he describes a varied career including work as a farmer, journalist and factory manager, though he provides few details.
Gao entered real estate in the 1990s and the country’s huge property boom propelled him into the ranks of the wealthy Chinese elite.
His website includes several examples of his poetry and essays, the latest being “Grandma’s Spinning Wheel”, a recollection of his grandmother written on a flight from Shanghai to London in April.
But he would also appear to have a more steely side.
From 1970 to 1977 — encompassing the tumult of the Cultural Revolution — Gao was in the Shanghai People’s Armed Police as a squad leader and technician, according to a company profile that lists his birth year as 1952.
The acquisition of Southampton has been months — or perhaps years, his writings suggest — in the making.
Gao’s Lander Sports Development, which among other things builds stadiums in China, said in January it had agreed a deal with Southampton, but in April announced it was off.
The eventual agreement was described as a personal investment also involving Gao’s daughter Nelly.