As the owner of Anfield and founder of Liverpool, John Houlding was the club's first chairman, a position he held from its founding in 1892 until 1904. John McKenna took over as chairman after Houlding's departure.[119] McKenna subsequently became President of the Football League.[120] The chairmanship changed hands many times before John Smith, whose father was a shareholder of the club, took up the role in 1973. He oversaw the most successful period in Liverpool's history before stepping down in 1990.[121] His successor was Noel White who became chairman in 1990.[122] In August 1991 David Moores, whose family had owned the club for more than 50 years, became chairman. His uncle John Moores was also a shareholder at Liverpool and was chairman of Everton from 1961 to 1973. Moores owned 51 percent of the club, and in 2004 expressed his willingness to consider a bid for his shares in Liverpool.[123]
Moores eventually sold the club to American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks on 6 February 2007. The deal valued the club and its outstanding debts at £218.9 million. The pair paid £5,000 per share, or £174.1m for the total shareholding and £44.8m to cover the club's debts.[124] Disagreements between Gillett and Hicks, and the fans' lack of support for them, resulted in the pair looking to sell the club.[125] Martin Broughton was appointed chairman of the club on 16 April 2010 to oversee its sale.[126] In May 2010, accounts were released showing the holding company of the club to be £350m in debt (due to leveraged takeover) with losses of £55m, causing auditor KPMG to qualify its audit opinion.[127] The group's creditors, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, took Gillett and Hicks to court to force them to allow the board to proceed with the sale of the club, the major asset of the holding company. A High Court judge, Mr Justice Floyd, ruled in favour of the creditors and paved the way for the sale of the club to Fenway Sports Group (formerly New England Sports Ventures), although Gillett and Hicks still had the option to appeal.[128] Liverpool was sold to Fenway Sports Group on 15 October 2010 for £300m.[129]
Liverpool has been described as a global brand; a 2010 report valued the club's trademarks and associated intellectual property at £141m, an increase of £5m on the previous year. Liverpool was given a brand rating of AA (Very Strong).[130] In April 2010 business magazine Forbes ranked Liverpool as the sixth most valuable football team in the world, behind Manchester United, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich; they valued the club at $822m (£532m), excluding debt.[131] Accountants Deloitte ranked Liverpool eighth in the Deloitte Football Money League, which ranks the world's football clubs in terms of revenue. Liverpool's income in the 2009–10 season was €225.3m.[132] According to a 2018 report by Deloitte, the club had an annual revenue of €424.2 million for the previous year,[133] and Forbes valued the club at $1.944 billion.[134] In 2018, annual revenue increased to €513.7 million,[135] and Forbes valued the club at $2.183 billion.[136] In 2019 revenue increased to €604 million (£533 million) according to Deloitte, with the club breaching the half a billion pounds mark.[137]
In April 2020, the owners of the club came under fire from fans and the media for deciding to furlough all non-playing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.[138] In response to this, the club made a U-turn on the decision and apologised for their initial decision.[139] In April 2021 Forbes valued the club at $4.1 billion, a two-year increase of 88%, making it the world's fifth-most-valuable football club.[140] Based on the latest rankings by Forbes, as of May 2023, Liverpool is ranked as the fourth most valuable football club in the world, behind Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona; they valued the club at $5.29 billion, an increase of 19% from 2022.[141]
