The intruder of the news gives each evening a spotlight on a personality who could have passed under the radars of the news.
American investor John Textor bought the Lyon club in December via Eagle Football Group, which had taken an 80% stake. Jean-Michel Aulas is supposed to remain executive chairman for another three years. But as often, everything accelerated. They disagreed on the sporting aspects. On Friday May 5, the board of directors of OL Groupe finally appointed John Textor chairman of the board and removed Jean-Michel Aulas. John Textor is now the only master on board with the idea of remaking Olympique Lyonnais into a major European football club.
Football lover but skateboard champion
The American is 57 years old, he is from Missouri and he now lives in Florida, in Palm Beach, alternating with Botafogo in Brazil, where he also owns the club. John Textor was a professional skateboarding champion but does not play football, unlike his son, whom he often goes to see playing at his home in Florida. Yet he never ceases to highlight his “love of football” which for him is not “not a business.” When OL was taken over in December, he said: “I am not here to build an empire, nor to maximize my fortune”.
John Textor said “watch more than 250 games a year, most often from the sidelines.” And repeated that he dreamed of it! “It’s important to dream! We really want to win championships. I think anything is possible. I want to win the Champions League… I don’t like this PSG model. And in the next few years, I think we’ll beat them! We want to win in Europe!” For this, OL is now its flagship. But it is already his fourth club, with Crystal Palace (in England), Botafogo (in Brazil) and Molenbeek (in Belgium).
Beginnings in the design of special effects
John Textor starts out as a computer programmer. He became known in the virtual world and special effects: he launched several businesses. From 2006 to 2012, he chaired the board of director James Cameron’s special effects studio. It was they, in particular, who aged Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008. But the company went bankrupt in 2012. John Textor then launched into holograms: he showed American rapper Tupac Shakur, who had been dead for 25 years, and especially Michael Jackson, five years after his disappearance, at a Californian festival. It’s a huge hit on YouTube. It even earned him a parody in an episode of the Southpark series where we see him sending a hologram of Tupac.
Football finally arrives quite late in its career. It starts with FuboTV, a live sports event streaming company. And finally, John Textor is interested in clubs. He tries in Portugal, Benfica and Sporting but the first purchase is finally made in London in August 2021: 40% of the shares of Crystal Palace. Six months later in Brazil, he takes 90% of Botafogo, the historic club near Rio, and in Belgium, he acquires 80% of the shares of Molenbeek.
Yet the American does not have a huge fortune. “A few hundred million euros”according to the journalist of the team who released the info of the departure from Aulas, Hugo Guillemet. “In reality, Textor has surrounded himself with several billionaire associates within Eagle Football Group.” There is in particular his great Canadian friend, owner of the Reebok brand, Jamie Salter. Their new idea: to create a synergy between all these clubs with in particular new recruitment units to unearth new talents.
A “very American” character
At this point, John Textor’s record looks quite encouraging at the other three clubs. Pareverything he wiped the slate clean, which suggests a major clean-up in the Lyon organization chart. Botafogo is having a very good start to the season and Molenbeek could well move up to the Belgian first division. Even the movements from one club to another have already been launched: Camilo, the Brazilian from the OL reserve, has been loaned to Molenbeek. In Botafogo, Textor brought in a youngster from Crystal Palace: Sébastien Joffre.
As for the “Textor character”, people who have known him so far describe him as “very American” ,very “pat on the back”, smiling, making jokes. We even find a form of“empathy” especially in the way he reached out to Jean-Michel Aulas several times before taking him out “because he didn’t want to damage the heritage”. But today Lyon is seventh in Ligue 1 and we will understand: John Textor dreams of the Champions League!