Will mystery man be Cats’ whiskers?

May 28 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

Unlike many tycoons, Ellis Short is a man who revels in anonymity. Stuart Rayner delves into the background of Sunderland’s new owner

ELLIS Short’s first public appearance at the Stadium of Light was a memorable one. Dressed in full Sunderland strip, he ran on to the field, kicked a ball about with the players, posed for a couple of photographs, then headed for the stands to watch the Black Cats secure their Premier League status.

Ellis Short junior, that is. His dad would never do such a thing.

The Irish-American multi-billionaire is no Michael Knighton, the ball-juggling former would-be owner of Manchester United and UFO-spotting chairman of Carlisle United. Not for him a replica shirt bearing the name of a player or manager à la Newcastle United’s Mike Ashley, just a smart suit and Sunderland tie as he sat at chairman Niall Quinn’s side in the director’s box. But there are similarities with Ashley. Little is known about the man who, as of yesterday, owns Sunderland lock, stock and barrel, and that is the way he likes it.

Short was born in Missouri, but is now thought to split his time between Dallas and Scotland. His business career started at General Electric before founding private equity firm Lone Star in the mid-1990s. In 2003, he led a £23m members’ buy-out of the ultra-exclusive Skibo Castle, the members-only hotel and country club where he lives. Membership is around £7,500, and visits cost £1,100 a night.

That year also saw Lone Star’s $1.5bn buy-out of Korea’s fifth-largest bank, resulting in arrest warrants from Seoul three years ago over alleged stock market manipulation. All charges were dropped. “I have met him but I don’t really know a lot about him,” Sunderland midfielder Kieran Richardson admitted, when asked. “We don’t really know a lot about things higher up. We just play our football as a group.