David Sullivan has built a huge empire through adult entertainment, newspapers and football
David Sullivan has announced his resignation as joint-chair and director of West Ham with immediate effect in a statement.(Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
Former West Ham chairman and director David Sullivan is one of the most recognisable faces in English football. However, Sullivan said he was stepping down from his position on Saturday to address “false allegations” about his private life.
The BBC is set to publish a joint investigation with The Times over multiple serious allegations about Sullivan’s personal life. This will be aired on BBC1’s Panorama on Monday evening at 8pm. Here Mirror Football takes a closer look at the ex-Irons chair.
David Sullivan’s Pornography empire
Sullivan, who has co-owned the Irons for 16 years, made the bulk of his wealth in producing adult entertainment through magazines and films in the 1970s.
He launched the Sunday Sport and Daily Sport in the 1980s, tabloids that gained notoriety for featuring semi-nude models. Sullivan then began a mail-order softcore photography business and, with David Gold, the late co-West Ham chair, he opened a number of sex shops and even ventured into making low-budget porn films.
Sullivan claimed he was never ashamed of being in the porn business, once referring to himself as a “freedom fighter.”
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In 2016, he said: “I am not ashamed of it – I only sold to adults and all my material was with adults. It is a dead business now as the sex shops make no money, I only keep them on for the staff.”
David Sullivan’s mansion
Sullivan owns several luxurious properties. He told Bloomberg that he spent around £75m on his stunning house in Marylebone and around £50m in sprucing it up.
David Sullivan’s huge Essex mansion(Image: ITV)
According to Knight Frank, property agents, the house was built in 1775 and features 10 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a swimming pool, a wine cellar, a cinema room and sauna.
The property has also been a hotbed of celebrity glamour over the years. Supermodel Kate Moss once shot a campaign on the property, while the late musician Amy Winehouse used it as the set for her “Rehab” music video.
The swimming pool in Sullivan’s Essex house(Image: ITV)
Sullivan also owns a sprawling £7.5m mansion in Essex spanning more than 25,000 sq ft. It’s said to be one of three similarly lavish properties the businessman owns.
Set amidst acres of land, it boasts 14 bedrooms, numerous luxurious bathrooms and a dining room that can accommodate up to 24 people.
The Essex-based mansion contains a huge dining area(Image: ITV)
One unique feature, however, is the Sullivan collection of silicone servants – each reportedly worth about £50k – which are dispersed throughout the rooms.
David Sullivan net worth
Sullivan is the fifth-richest person from Wales, having been born in Cardiff, with his net worth recently estimated at £1.1 billion in the Sunday Times Rich List. A large proportion of his wealth came after selling the Sunday Sport and later the Daily Sport for a whopping £45m.
His ventures in producing porn films made him a millionaire by the age of 25. Sullivan also reinvested his earnings into property.
David Sullivan is a billionaire according to the Sunday Times(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
He operates an investment company that owns highly valuable spaces across London, including retail spaces on Oxford Street and historic mansions in Marylebone. By the late 2000s, his property portfolio was said to account for a huge amount of his total net worth.
Along with the Gold brothers, Sullivan bought Birmingham City out of administration for £700,000 in 1993. Over the next 16 years, they stabilised the club and eventually sold their stakes for a profit that was believed to be around £80m.
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