Who is Bill Foley? How the Auckland A-League expansion's ...

Bill Foley may be the answer to a question that has been asked for 16 years: Who wants to foot the bill for an Auckland-based professional football club?

Understood to be the preferred bidder to run the new expansion A-League franchise and to be making his first public announcement this afternoon at Mt Smart Stadium, Foley will evaporate some of the mist that has surrounded his late bid for the new franchise.

But who is Bill Foley? How did he make his money? What makes him the right person for Auckland’s A-League franchise?

Worth a reported US$1.6 billion ($2.65b), the Texas native spent most of his childhood in Austin, where he was born in 1944 to a family of ranchers. He did spend some time in Canadian capital, Ottawa, as his father was a US Air Force member stationed in Ontario.

Foley followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the air force after graduating from West Point United States Military Academy. During his time in service, he helped to facilitate multi-million-dollar deals with Boeing and realised his aptitude for negotiation.

Post-service, Foley earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Washington and entered the world of corporate law. It was there he reportedly made $66,000 on the stock market, which he then re-invested.

In 1974, Foley purchased Fidelity National Financial (FNF) and helped turn a failing insurance company into a Forbes 500 organisation that had around $14b in annual revenue in 2019. Foley still serves as chairman of FNF.

He is also chairman of Black Knight, Inc., a software and data provider for the mortgage industry.

Throughout the years, Foley has invested in New Zealand and owns multiple businesses here, including Foley Wines Ltd, which consists of five wineries in Martinborough, Marlborough and Central Otago, a restaurant group with venues in Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown, including the iconic Soul bar in Auckland, as well as the luxury lodge Wharekauhau on the South Wairarapa Coast.

As far as sporting ventures go, Foley is no stranger to parting ways with vast sums of money in order secure expansion rights or ownership.

Most famously, in 2016, Foley and his consortium Black Knight Sports & Entertainment group paid a reported expansion fee of $828 million for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) latest team, the Vegas Golden Knights.

In six seasons in the NHL, the Knights have had remarkable success. They were the fastest expansion team to win a Stanley Cup, doing so in 2022, and have made the playoffs five times in their six seasons. Foley’s companies also own a number of second-tier sports franchises in the United States.

If owning a successful franchise in one of America’s four premier sports doesn’t convince football fans Foley has what it takes to steer Auckland into professional football, perhaps his ownership of an English Premier League club will abate any fears.

In 2022, Foley and a group of investors purchased AFC Bournemouth from owner Maxim Demin. Reports indicate $248m was paid for the team through another company, Black Knight Football and Entertainment (BKFE).

Further, Foley and BKFE subsequently purchased a 33 per cent stake in French Ligue One team FC Lorient. Foley’s companies have also been linked to clubs in Belgium and Brazil. Like other multi-club owners, Foley will look to use vertical integration to take a pyramid approach, with Bournemouth at the top. In a short time, he has become a popular figure at the Cherries due to his willingness to invest in players.

Auckland football fans will be hoping that if Foley does become the owner of the city’s first fully professional club since 2007, he’ll put into practice the same philosophy and expectation for success that he has in his other ventures.

Will Toogood is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has previously worked for Newstalk ZB’s digital team and at Waiheke’s Gulf News, covering sports and events.