Chelsea FC Sale: Sir Lewis Hamilton And Serena Williams Pledge Club Bid Funds

Sir Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams, two of the world’s biggest sports stars, are committing millions of pounds to one of the bids vying to secure the future of Chelsea Football Club.

Earlier today, Sky News exclusively revealed the full line-up of investors backing the takeover offer for Chelsea spearheaded by Sir Martin Broughton, the former Liverpool FC and British Airways chairman .

The most prominent of these are the seven-times Formula One world champion and the former women's world tennis number one.

Sources close to the group said Sir Lewis and Ms Williams — the highest-profile members of any of the three remaining consortia — had pledged an estimated £10m each to the bid.

Both Sir Lewis, who will compete for his Mercedes team at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola this weekend, and Ms Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slams including seven Wimbledon titles, have become established investors in their own right in recent years.

Serena Ventures, the tennis star's venture capital fund, this week announced an investment in Opensponsorship, a British-based sports technology start-up.

Sir Lewis, meanwhile, has backed a range of early-stage companies such as Zapp, the London-based rapid grocery delivery app.

Their involvement in the Chelsea auction is unexpected - not least because Sir Lewis is an Arsenal fan.