There has been a lot of conjecture regarding Lerner’s enthusiasm for everything Aston Villa. Is he going to sell? Is he going to invest? Is he going status quo? Anything we hear, or try to sort out for ourselves, is nothing short of artistic speculation when it comes to this modern version of Howard Hughes. We really only have a history of his past dealings, both pro and con.
A few facts regarding Lerner’s wealth and earnings are needed to try and get a grip on Villa’s future.
First, a few comparisons of Lerner’s earning power and wealth: last year, his wealth jumped £300,000,000. This is sum total of all earnings and losses for 2012. The Average Joe on the street (my estimate here) is £25k a year; therefore, Joe, at 25k, has to work 12,000 years without tax deductions to make up what Lerner made in one. Now, Lerner’s overall worth, or savings, is 1.5 billion pounds or dollars – does it really matter what denomination I use? – It’s a lot. If the Average Joe has savings of 10,000, then Lerner has 150,000 times that much. I can only imagine what the oil guys have.
You can see how much this man is worth when you change the numbers around to units.
Taking this thought a little further: if Villa costs (losses plus gains) a negative 30-mil, that’s 10% of – oh wait! That figure has already been factored into the 300-mil in earnings. I think you see how little, in comparative terms, Villa is costing him. For Joe, that’s like buying a £2,500 vacation without it affecting the household, bottom line. Or how much scrimping Joe has to do to afford that vacation, and how little the comparative cost affects Lerner. I have simplified this a lot, but Villa is, comparatively speaking, an aside – a hobby, or a diversion, in his life.
As a hobby, it stands to reason that Lerner’s interest waxes and wanes as the mood strikes him. Much like that train set you built in the spare room that you check it out once in awhile. Just like you and me, he plays with it when he feels like it. His wealth makes Villa a toy.
It appears that Lerner likes his hobby, and is more than likely to keep it at the moment, as it essentially makes no difference to his bottom line. His investment in Villa is determined by how much enjoyment he gets out of the team. If they stay up, he should be happy and invest; drop down a league, and that interest drops. Like the locomotive in the train set which doesn’t run and is put aside, Villa will be pushed further away interest-wise, as, comparatively speaking, it costs little.
I’m sure Lerner is smart when it comes to business, but his upbringing must have some bearing on how he runs his business. Is he hands-on, or does he just hire people to run his dealings? He didn’t expand his wealth from nothing; his father did. He has a different perspective than someone who started with zero. By not having a stake in the original growth of the business, it is easier to let things slide. He just doesn’t have the enthusiasm of someone who built it, as his fingerprints aren’t on the building plan. This thinking is apparent to his running of Aston Villa: no real commitment, as he didn’t stick his neck out with money he earned.
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