# David Gold (businessman)
**David Gold** (1936 – 4 January 2023) was a British businessman who owned the retailer [Ann Summers](https://www.edgepedia.org/ann-summers) through Gold Group International and was joint chairman of West Ham United, the football club he had supported as a boy growing up opposite its [Boleyn Ground](https://www.edgepedia.org/boleyn-ground) stadium.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) With his long-time business partner David Sullivan, he first owned Birmingham City and then, from January 2010, West Ham.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | East London, 1936; 4 January 2023, aged 86, after a short illness[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) |
| Business interests | Gold Group International, parent of Ann Summers and the Knickerbox lingerie chain; also a corporate air service[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) • [2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) |
| Birmingham City | Bought with David Sullivan and Ralph Gold in March 1993 for £700,000 while the club was in administration; sold in 2009[3](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/06/david-sullivan-how-did-the-pornographer-rise-so-high-in-modern-football) |
| Sale of Birmingham | Sold to Carson Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings Limited in October 2009 for £81.5 million[4](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/david-gold-dies-who-owns-west-ham-chairman-premier-league/x0uiiesmg9tnxcqbapj0fglk) |
| West Ham takeover | January 2010, a 50% stake acquired with Sullivan for around £50 million[5](https://www.cityam.com/who-owns-west-ham-now-how-much-did-sullivan-and-gold-pay-cb-holding-in-2010/) • [6](https://www.whufc.com/en/the-club/history/club-history/2010s) |
| West Ham stake | 25.1%, making him the club's third largest shareholder behind Sullivan and Daniel Kretinsky[7](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/ckvlqqklwgyo) |
| Stadium move | Relocation from Upton Park to the London Stadium in 2016, at £2.5 million a year in rent with a £15 million contribution to the conversion[8](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/09/west-ham-unitd-olympic-stadium-david-gold) |
## Early life
Gold was born in east London in 1936 and raised in a house on Green Street, directly opposite the Boleyn Ground, West Ham's stadium from 1904 until 2016.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) He described his childhood as one of abject poverty; his father, Godfred ("Goddy"), was in jail during part of his upbringing, and the family was Jewish in an area and era where anti-Semitism was widespread.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) • [9](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/football/news/david-gold-my-dad-was-in-jail-we-were-in-abject-poverty-west-ham-was-pure-escapism-2364751.html)
**Football as a young man.** He represented West Ham's boys' team between the ages of 13 and 16 and later appeared in the youth team, playing for London Boys and West Ham's A side before the club's manager, Ted Fenton, offered him apprentice professional forms.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) • [2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) His father refused to sign the forms, ending the pathway; Gold was at the time an apprentice bricklayer earning less than £3 a week, against a football maximum wage of £20 a week.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) • [10](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/football/premier-league/david-gold-i-can-t-sleep-at-night-i-lie-there-thinking-over-all-the-permutations-if-we-win-and-portsmouth-draw-and-west-brom-lose-6102398.html)
## Business career
Gold and his brother Ralph showed early entrepreneurial talent selling buttons and children's comics on a stall outside their house, numbered 442, on Green Street.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) From there Gold built a fortune in adult publishing, developing an adult magazine company with his brother, and later owned a corporate air service and became chairman of the retail chain Ann Summers.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) He was the owner of Gold Group International (GGI), the parent company of Ann Summers and the lingerie chain Knickerbox.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) He also held a stake, with David Sullivan, in Sport Newspapers, known for headlines such as "Elvis lives on the Moon"; that stake was sold in 2007.[11](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/david-gold-s-game-of-two-halves-889572.html)
## Birmingham City
In March 1993 Gold, his brother Ralph, and David Sullivan bought Birmingham City, then in administration and struggling in the second tier of English football, for £700,000.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/06/david-sullivan-how-did-the-pornographer-rise-so-high-in-modern-football) Gold became the club's chairman.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) During their tenure the owners won recognition for an innovative ticketing strategy and were the first club to employ the "Kids for a Quid" scheme, later used widely by clubs across the country.[12](https://www.london.gov.uk/media/53566/download)
The ownership was often at odds with supporters. After relegation from the Premier League to the Championship in 2008, and a botched sale process in which the Chinese businessman Carson Yeung held a three-month option to buy the club without completing it, Gold announced his intention to sell his shares.[11](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/david-gold-s-game-of-two-halves-889572.html) • [1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) In October 2009 Gold and Sullivan sold the club to Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings Limited for £81.5 million.[4](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/david-gold-dies-who-owns-west-ham-chairman-premier-league/x0uiiesmg9tnxcqbapj0fglk)
## West Ham United
In January 2010 Gold and Sullivan, both lifelong West Ham supporters, took a 50% stake in the club, with [Karren Brady](https://www.edgepedia.org/karren-brady) appointed vice-chairman.[6](https://www.whufc.com/en/the-club/history/club-history/2010s) • [2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) The acquisition cost around £50 million.[5](https://www.cityam.com/who-owns-west-ham-now-how-much-did-sullivan-and-gold-pay-cb-holding-in-2010/) Gold later described the takeover as the fulfilment of a lifetime ambition, writing that because of the poverty he grew up in he could never have dreamed of it, and that his childhood dream had been to own a bicycle rather than a football club.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html)
The tenure included relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2010/11 season and a return via the 2012 Championship play-off final, won 2-1 against [Blackpool](https://www.edgepedia.org/blackpool).[6](https://www.whufc.com/en/the-club/history/club-history/2010s) Under the ownership the club also reached the Europa League semi-finals in the 2021/22 season.[4](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/david-gold-dies-who-owns-west-ham-chairman-premier-league/x0uiiesmg9tnxcqbapj0fglk)
**The London Stadium move.** The most divisive decision of the ownership was the 2016 move from Upton Park, the club's home of 112 years, to the [London Stadium](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-stadium), the 60,000-capacity former [Olympic Stadium](https://www.edgepedia.org/olympic-stadium) in Stratford.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) • [8](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/09/west-ham-unitd-olympic-stadium-david-gold) West Ham agreed to pay £2.5 million a year in rent and contributed £15 million toward a £272 million conversion, while the London Legacy Development Corporation met the stadium's full running costs.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/09/west-ham-unitd-olympic-stadium-david-gold) Gold defended the deal as beneficial to taxpayers, arguing the club had rescued a stadium built "by very arrogant people that had no foresight" from becoming a white elephant.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/09/west-ham-unitd-olympic-stadium-david-gold) Fan discontent over the move grew into open protest, including a march by thousands of supporters in February 2020, and Gold wrote that the personal abuse he received as a lifelong supporter upset him greatly.[2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) • [13](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58736570)
By 2022 Gold's 25.1% stake made him the club's third largest shareholder, behind Sullivan and the Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky, who had bought 27% in 2021.[7](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/ckvlqqklwgyo)
## Death and aftermath
Gold died on 4 January 2023, aged 86, following a short illness.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) His shareholding record at West Ham shows him ceasing as a person with significant control on 3 January 2023, the day before his death.[14](https://whoowns.co.uk/football-clubs/west-ham/) His 25.1% stake was expected to pass to his daughters Jacqueline and Vanessa, from his marriage to his first wife Beryl Hunt, with a possible sale to Kretinsky.[1](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772) • [2](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html) In October 2023 Vanessa Gold put part of the family stake up for sale, and in 2026 she agreed to sell the family's shares to a consortium led by [Amanda Staveley](https://www.edgepedia.org/amanda-staveley) after a previously agreed sale to Kretinsky fell through.[15](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67271425) • [16](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sport/consortium-led-staveley-buy-gold-familys-stakes-in-west-ham-6292986)
## References
1. [David Gold: West Ham joint chairman dies aged 86, Sky News](https://news.sky.com/story/david-gold-west-ham-joint-chairman-dies-aged-86-12779772)
2. [David Gold: From abject poverty to business success, West Ham ownership fulfilled a lifelong ambition, The Standard](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/david-gold-west-ham-obituary-b1050919.html)
3. [David Sullivan: how did the pornographer rise so high in modern football?, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/06/david-sullivan-how-did-the-pornographer-rise-so-high-in-modern-football)
4. [David Gold dies: Who was West Ham joint-chairman and who owns the Premier League club?, Sporting News](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/david-gold-dies-who-owns-west-ham-chairman-premier-league/x0uiiesmg9tnxcqbapj0fglk)
5. [Who owns West Ham? How much did Sullivan pay in 2010?, City A.M.](https://www.cityam.com/who-owns-west-ham-now-how-much-did-sullivan-and-gold-pay-cb-holding-in-2010/)
6. [2010s, West Ham United FC club history](https://www.whufc.com/en/the-club/history/club-history/2010s)
7. [David Gold 'loved West Ham' but will family retain shares in club?, BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/ckvlqqklwgyo)
8. [West Ham's Olympic Stadium deal benefits taxpayer, claims David Gold, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/09/west-ham-unitd-olympic-stadium-david-gold)
9. [David Gold: 'My dad was in jail, we were in abject poverty, West Ham was pure escapism', The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/football/news/david-gold-my-dad-was-in-jail-we-were-in-abject-poverty-west-ham-was-pure-escapism-2364751.html)
10. [David Gold: 'I can't sleep at night...', The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/football/premier-league/david-gold-i-can-t-sleep-at-night-i-lie-there-thinking-over-all-the-permutations-if-we-win-and-portsmouth-draw-and-west-brom-lose-6102398.html)
11. [David Gold's game of two halves, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/david-gold-s-game-of-two-halves-889572.html)
12. [West Ham United submission to the London Assembly](https://www.london.gov.uk/media/53566/download)
13. [West Ham: 'A club on the rise' - so why do deep divisions between fans and owners remain?, BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58736570)
14. [Who Owns West Ham? Club Owners & Ownership](https://whoowns.co.uk/football-clubs/west-ham/)
15. [West Ham: Vanessa Gold to sell part of stake in Premier League club, BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67271425)
16. [Consortium led by Staveley to buy Gold family's stakes in West Ham, CNA](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sport/consortium-led-staveley-buy-gold-familys-stakes-in-west-ham-6292986)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Businesspeople and entrepreneurs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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