BIRMINGHAM - David Sullivan, the owner of British Premier League soccer club Birmingham City, was recently listed in Britain's Sunday Times as the 125th richest man in England.
He got his start in porn, but most of his wealth, according to the paper, comes from property. Still, a fortune estimated to be worth £600 million is nothing to be overlooked.
According to the Sunday Times, Sullivan broke into the porn market when he was 21, selling photos and magazine via mail order. He must have done a fine job. By the mid-1970s, Sullivan is said to have controlled half of the
adult magazine market in Britain.
It was during that era that Sullivan, with the help of Ralph and David Gold, who owned the Ann Summers chain of adult stores launched the Sunday Sport newspaper in 1986.
The Sunday Times noted that, at its peak, sales of Sunday Sport were 600,000 a week, although sales are a lot lower now. Sunday Sport was also eventually put out as a daily paper.
In 1993, Sullivan and the Gold brothers bought into Birmingham City soccer club, which was in what the Sunday Times described as "administration."
Last August, in a reverse takeover, it was announced that mobile adult content group Interactive World was buying the Daily and Sunday Sport. Sullivan, who also owned a 49.5% share of Interactive World, announced he was also selling that stake, and severed his ties to the paper.
This came only a month after Sullivan sold 14.81% of his shares in Birmingham City to Hong Kong-based businessman Carson Yeung for about £7.5 million. However, as Yeung seemed bent on a full takeover, Sullivan announced his intention to cut his ties with the club.
However, according to the Sunday Times, Yeung's takeover attempt failed and Sullivan managed to increase his share in Birmingham City earlier this year.
David Sullivan, by the way, bears no relation to the AVN.com managing editor of the same name.
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