Meet the 49ers chief backing the Rangers takeover — Paraag Marathe, the right hand man of a billionaire — Daily Record 19/2/25

Marathe spent 24 years climbing his way up through the ranks of his beloved San Francisco 49ers and now stands on the brink of putting together an American takeover of Rangers FC

He grew up in California, as the son of Indian immigrants, working behind the till of the family pizza restaurant.

But sports-daft Paraag Marathe always harboured ambitions to get his teeth into a very different slice of the action. And now – after 24 years spent climbing his way up through the ranks of his beloved San Francisco 49ers – he stands on the brink of putting together an American takeover of Rangers Football Club.

As Record Sport revealed in an explosive exclusive, Marathe and the 49ers are behind a shock move to bolster up the crisis-ravaged Ibrox outfit. A US-based consortium has been involved in secret discussions stretching beyond the turn of the year and those talks are now understood to have reached an advanced stage.

And that could open the door to a strong and lucrative relationship with the NFL giants. Marathe is regarded as the right hand man and close friend of 49ers chief executive Jed York. The York family own the 49ers and have an estimated net worth of 5.8 billion dollars according to the latest figures released by Forbes Magazine at the end of 2024.

And Marathe wants to use some of that wealth to help transform the fortunes of Rangers after more than a decade of upheaval off the pitch and underachievement on it. It’s unclear what Marathe’s exact role might be if the proposed multi-million deal is agreed, given that he is currently sitting on the board of Leeds United as chairman after masterminding a 100 per cent buy out of the Elland Road club.

But his very involvement in the bombshell proposal could unlock a huge financial windfall as well as access to commercial partners and some of the most advanced player recruitment technology in the cash rich NFL. Marathe has used this data to drive his rebuild of the Yorkshire club, which is sitting in pole position at the top of the English Championship and on course for a return to the Premier League.

He claims to handle negotiations in his sleep and Leeds have raked in more than £150m from player sales since he took control of the club on a lock, stock and barrel basis less than two years ago. Marathe first teamed up with the York family in 2001 when he joined the 49ers as the club’s special projects manager, following his graduation with a business degree from Stanford University and a few years spent in management consultancy.

He quickly worked his way up through the York business empire, serving as 49ers president and chief operating officer while also overseeing a move from the iconic Candlestick Park arena to the space aged, 70,00 capacity Levi’s Stadium in 2014.

In a rare interview with a newspaper in San Jose, Marathe admitted that his meteoric rise through the sporting world had caught even his own family by surprise. He said: “In Indian-American culture everyone’s got to be a doctor or engineer, or maybe a lawyer. Working in sports, my whole family - the ones who are in India and everywhere else - they just thought this was a hobby.”

In his biography on the 49ers official website his credentials in the business are described in glowing terms. It reads: “Marathe also serves as president of 49ers Enterprises, and leads the group's strategic investment in Leeds United Football Club, along with other sports business ventures.

“After five years as minority owners, as of July 2023, 49ers Enterprises became the sole owner of the storied English football club, with Marathe at the helm as the Club's chairman. Currently competing in the English Championship, Marathe is overseeing all aspects of the Club, including sporting and business operations, and drives the strategy to fight for promotion back to the Premier League.

“In June 2024, Marathe and his team announced a landmark front-of-shirt partnership and investment deal with Red Bull, a first-of-its-kind in English football in either category for the energy drink company and global sporting giant. The long-term deal brings in new commercial revenues as well as additional capital investment.

“In 2024, Marathe and his team announced a landmark partnership deal with Red Bull, bringing in new commercial revenues as well as additional capital investment.”

Clearly, the American consortium leading this proposed Rangers investment hopes to tap into some of Marathe’s expertise.

Marathe’s leadership of Leeds was recently criticised by controversial former England boss Sam Allardyce who accused the 49ers of sabotaging the club’s promotion bid by cashing in on too many star players.

Allardyce was hired by the NFL club’s owners to take over at Elland Road in May 2023 - at a time when the club sat perilously above the top flight’s trap door. But his emergency appointment was an unmitigated disaster as Allardyce picked up just one point from four remaining top flight matches, to drop two places down the table and drag United into the Championship.

Leeds came close to bouncing straight back up under Daniel Farke last season before losing out to Southampton in the £265m promotion play-off final.

And that prompted a summer fire sale of talent with the likes of Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter and former Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara all sold off as the Americans recouped around £150m in player exits.

Speaking last summer Allardyce publicly questioned Marathe’s approach. He said: “It’s sad for Leeds because they’re selling too many. If they want to get back up there, Leeds fans will be wondering if the San Francisco 49ers are right for them if they’re selling assets and not getting a team together that’s good enough to get promoted.”

At the time, Leeds United supporters' trust also demanded answers from Marathe who said: "I can't talk on specific players right now.

“But if I can paint the big picture for you, there are certain things that we need to do and we will make sure we are fully compliant with profit and sustainability, as we always have been, and there are certain trade-offs that we have to make. We'll have to think about if the chemistry of the squad is right - which players fit us, what we're trying to be and what we want to look like - versus which players don't fit.

“We have to sit down as a leadership team with Daniel to figure out which ones and how we manage all that. So that will be taken into account as well as some of the profit and sustainability complications we have. I'm really excited with what we could do. I'm excited about the fact we have a full off-season - an extra five weeks to start planning our player squad strategy."

Despite the big money departures, Leeds are currently sitting in first place in this season’s Championship table and closing in on a return to England’s top flight at the second attempt under German boss Farke.