Steve Atkins – respected former PR chef at Chelsea – becomes an operational partner at the majority of the club.
Atkins, who left Stamford Bridge after 14 years in 2022 to lead communication at F1 Giants McLaren, will take on the role at Clearlake Capital, will understand Daily Mail Sport.
Although he will undoubtedly be used at Chelsea, Atkins will be given the task of supporting existing activities in the portfolio of the LA-based investment firm in Europe and America.
Before he came to Chelsea, he spent a decade in Washington DC for the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will offer the group extra experience, whose interest in the Premier League club is checked by co-founder Behdad Eghbali.
Together with Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss, Clearlake also have their own French outfit RC Strasbourg.
Although insiders have emphasized that Atkins will not be pure Chelsea-Centric in its new position, the move can be seen very well as a positive for its former employers prior to the new Premier League season. He is known to both the staff and the fan base of the club.
Indeed, when Atkins left in West London, Chelsea published a glowing explanation, in which they said that he “had developed the club's communication in an agile, authoritative and leading operation worldwide.”
Atkins arrived on Stamford Bridge five years after the takeover of Roman Abramovich and was for the most successful period in the history of the club.
During his time at McLaren, the team won the Constructors Championship for the first time since 1998. Atkins left the F1 world in February, with the ambition to find a new role with which he could be closer to his family.