Sunderland's 26-year-old owner is the youngest in English football but billionaire's Black Cats are DWARFED by the financial might of Saudi-backed Newcastle - as the two rivals prepare to face off in the FA Cup, Mail Sport looks at a tale of two ownerships

Neither Newcastle nor Sunderland had much to cheer about less than four years ago, with both clubs stagnating under ownerships reviled by the fans and in dire need of transformation.   

But 2021 ushered in seismic change on both sides of the Tyne, first with Sunderland's takeover led by French businessman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, and then Newcastle's October sale to a consortium overseen by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund later that year. 

In the years since, both clubs have sought to improve their standings in style - with the Black Cats leaping out of League One to begin challenging for Premier League promotion, and Newcastle playing Champions League football just two seasons after fearing relegation.   

It's been eight years since the old enemies have clashed in the storied Tyne-Wear derby and Saturday's FA Cup meeting will mark the first time that either of the side's new owners have experienced the incendiary rivalry. 

Here, Mail Sport weighs up the two ownership groups ahead of the contest as both sides brace themselves for a historic fixture. 

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (centre) became English football's youngest owner with his purchase of a controlling interest in Sunderland in 2021

INCOMPARABLE NET WORTHS

There's little contest here - one man (albeit backed by eye-popping family money) against the investing arm of the Saudi state. 

PIF is thought to be worth close to £554billion ($700bn) in light of their assets under management, with - as per CNN - a view to exceeding £792bn ($1trillion) over the next few years. 

26-year-old Louis-Dreyfus is said to have a trust fund under his control worth an estimated £2bn - although his slice of the family business could see him worth far more. 

... BUT HOW DID THEY MAKE THEIR MONEY? 

PIF is not the only national sovereign wealth fund, but it is by far the most well-known. Established in 1971, the PIF underwent a radical overhaul in 2015 after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - the nation's de facto ruler - became the organisation's chairman. 

Since the change in leadership, it has invested headily in a number of diverse companies including Disney, Uber, Boeing, Meta, Citigroup, BP, and Bank of American. PIF also owns Saudi Aramco - the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. 

Louis-Dreyfus' wealth is inherited. His family founded the Swiss-based Louis-Dreyfus group as a grain trading firm in 1851 and his late father Robert built it up to be a global leader in agricultural commodities, as well as managing hedge funds and sea vessels.

Robert added to his portfolio and raised his profile by rescuing companies such as Adidas and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, further bolstering a huge fortune before joining the family firm. 

In the wake of her husband's death, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus became chairperson of the company, and in 2022, Louis-Dreyfus Group reported total assets worth £17bn. 

A TALE OF TWO TAKEOVERS 

It took 18 months for the deal to finally get the green light, but in October 2021, Newcastle finally changed hands, with former owner Mike Ashley agreeing to part with the club for £305m. 

The delay had come largely due to Saudi Arabia's piracy row with Qatar-owned beIN Sports, a major holder of Premier League broadcasting rights. In the wake of a severe breakdown of relations between the two Gulf states in 2017, Saudi had launched an illegal station which broadcast top-flight fixtures called beoutQ following a ban on beIN in the Kingdom. 

With the resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi and Qatar in 2021, the ban on the channel was lifted, paving the way for negotiations to be thrashed out between Ashley and the purchasing consortium comprised of the PIF - who have an 80 per cent share - RB Sports & Media, and Amanda Staveley's PCP Capital Partners. PIF's governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, was later appointed chairman. 

Under far less dramatic circumstances, Louis-Dreyfus became the youngest chairman and owner in the club's history with his purchase of a 'controlling' stake in the club in 2021 at the tender age of 23, along with his partner, Uruguayan businessman Juan Sartori. 

Louis-Dreyfus and Sartori began gradually increasing their respective stakes in the club a year later after promotion back to the Championship, first buying out director Charlie Methven's five per cent share whilst reducing former owner Stewart Donald's. 

In June 2023, Louis-Dreyfus increased his holdings to 64 per cent, to Sartori's 36 per cent.   

SIMILAR SIGNING STRATEGIES 

Despite the staggering wealth of their new ownership, Newcastle have been almost hesitant in the transfer market since the takeover, in their bid to stay within the boundaries of the league's Financial Fair Play regulations. 

As such, the price of their record signing Alexander Isak - £60m - feels almost paltry compared to the multi-billion-pound shopping basket of Premier League rivals Chelsea, or the wild spending of Manchester United. Isak  took time to click at St James' Park, his first season overshadowed by injury and inconsistent form, but the Sweden international has settled nicely, and currently sits atop the club's leading scorer rankings with 11 goals to his name for their current campaign. 

Isak has at least fared better as a signing than Newcastle's second most expensive player since the Saudi takeover at the time of writing: £55m Sandro Tonali is in the midst of an eight-month ban for illegal gambling levied by the Italian FA. 

By contrast, Louis-Dreyfus has reversed a trend for big-money - and most ineffectual - signings at the Stadium of Light and focused recruitment firmly on the future. Emerging talent has been prioritised, giving Sunderland the youngest squad in the division, and a youngest starting XI of just 22 years and three months.

That puts the estimated fee for Ukrainian forward Nazariy Rusyn of £2.1m, who joined Sunderland over the summer, at the top of the table, but the club have had to wait for his price-tag to convert to goals - the 25-year-old scored his first in the red and white against Preston on New Year's Day. 

OWNER-MANAGER RELATIONS 

Although Newcastle's new ownership allowed Steve Bruce a handful of lame-duck games in charge of the team, his card was marked. 13 days after the takeover, Bruce was sacked, and less than a month later - in arguably the board's savviest decision in their two-and-a-half-year tenure - Eddie Howe was appointed head coach. 

Howe has overseen a period of success for Newcastle, having masterminded a rise to the top four and Champions League football within the space of less than two seasons in charge. 

While mid-winter form has seen the club slip down to ninth and drop out of both Europe and the Carabao Cup, there is no sense that Howe's job will be under threat - his strong working relationship with Newcastle's owners and early overachievement means there is a wellspring of respect for the former Bournemouth manager. 

Not so at the Stadium of Light, where Louis-Dreyfus has watched five managers try and fail to heave Sunderland out of the Championship. Most recently, Sunderland's owners rolled the dice and sacked Tony Mowbray at the end of November in the wake of a 1-1 draw with Millwall that saw the club drop to ninth, and speculation abounded that the club would appoint Reims wonderkid Will Still. 

Instead, the hierarchy plumped for former Rangers manager Michael Beale, who has since guided the club up the table into the play-off spots.  

CLUB CONTROVERSIES

Louis-Dreyfus has largely enjoyed a charmed relationship with Sunderland's supporters, stemming rom the Frenchman breaking a run of unpopular owners from Ellis Short to Stewart Donald's consortium, but on Thursday the tide turned.

Furious fans questioned whether he understands the enormity of Saturday's Wear-Tyne derby after black and white signage was unveiled at the Stadium of Light, forcing the club into an embarrassing climbdown.

More than 700 of Newcastle's 6,000 travelling fans are paying £600 a ticket for a hospitality seat in the Black Cats Bar.

However, images emerged on Thursday of the suite being decorated with black and white banners, including 'We are United' and 'Keep the black and white flying high'.

There was another image of a 'Cheer up Peter Reid' slogan on a screen behind the bar, mocking their former manager.

It has caused a backlash against the owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and the club's hierarchy on the eve of the FA Cup third round tie.

The anger forced the club into an embarrassing climbdown as they later apologised and admitted to a 'serious error of judgement' before removing the signage. But the majority of supporters feel the damage is already done.

Eyebrows were also raised when Mowbray was handed his P45, with some wondering how much the veteran coach had done to deserve his sacking. 

Commentator Guy Mowbray posted on social media that it was 'always upsetting when a really good man loses their job having done a REALLY good job', but cited the 'precarious' nature of managing in the Championship. 

The head coach is thought to have been given his marching orders following the breakdown of relations between Mowbray and Louis-Dreyfus and his sporting director Kristjaan Speakman over the club's forward-looking transfer policy. Failure to reach the Premier League at the end of the previous season after being knocked out of the play-offs by Luton Town is also thought to have contributed to Mowbray's exit. 

But Sunderland's owners pale in comparison to their rivals when it comes to club controversies, with division over PIF's involvement at St James' Park sparking long before the club was taken over three years ago. 

Since the takeover, much of the criticism of Newcastle's ownership has focused on its role in 'sportswashing' the reputation of the Gulf state, which has minimised attention on the Kingdom's dismal human rights record. Since some supporters celebrated the takeover waving Saudi flags, the club has been inextricably tied to the fortunes of the country - whose national team played two friendlies at St James' Park in September of last year. 

In November, PIF ownership came under further scrutiny after a shock Premier League club voted against a temporary ban on incoming loan deals between clubs with the same owners. 

PIF owns four of the top clubs in the Saudi Pro League, and January's window could yet see movement between the entities as Newcastle seek to bolster an injury-ravaged squad. 

The relationship between Newcastle and league rivals Chelsea also attracted attention due to the sovereign wealth fund's expansive investment in Clearlake Capital, who were involved in the west London club's May 2022 takeover. 

But the Premier League are said to have received additional written assurances that Chelsea's then-owners-to-be were not involved with the Saudi fund at the time of the club's sale. 

BEYOND FOOTBALL 

As well as ownership of Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Nassr in the Saudi league, PIF have expanded decisively into golf with the 2022 launch of LIV Golf, a competing franchise with the DP and PGA Tours. 

LIV's capture of a number of the sport's high-profile 'rebels' including Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson, and Sergio Garcia for enormous sums of money tipped the sport's world on its axis and sowed deep division in the golfing world. But just a year later, a surprise merger between the entities was announced. 

Whilst LIV, the DP Tour, and the PGA Tour remain in negotiations despite the six-month deadline for terms to be agreed passing on December 31, LIV continue to accrue top players, with Jon Rahm agreeing a £400m deal to join the league earlier that month. 

Sunderland's ownership can by no means match PIF's aggressive investment in other sports, but in September expanded into supercross motorbike racing with the purchase of the promotion group behind the World Supercross Championship. 

Louis-Dreyfus also continues to own a five per cent stake in his family's former club Marseille, and has an interest in esports company Ovation.