| Michael Edelson | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Michael Edelson 7 July 1944 Oldham, Lancashire, UK |
| Residence | Manchester |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | The Shellmeister |
| Alma mater | Bury Grammar School |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Director of Manchester United |
| Spouse | Jacky |
| Children | Emma and Laura |
Michael Edelson is a non-executive Director of Manchester United F.C. He is an angel investor, venture capitalist and philanthropist who has been instrumental in creating numerous cash shell companies on both AIM and PLUS. As a result of these, he was nicknamed "The Shellmeister" by Richard Rivlin in an article in the Sunday Telegraph in 1996 and the nickname has stuck to this day.
Michael was educated at Bury Grammar School and joined his family business upon leaving 6th form.
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Educated at Bury Grammar School, he was an amateur footballer playing for Oldham Athletic and Stoke City Reserves between 1960 and 1964 before joining the family business full time in 1964. In the mid 1990s, he took a stake in Conrad Continental Limited, an ailing Manchester textile company which was listed on the London Stock Exchange. After the conversion of Conrad into a Cash Shell, Conrad successfully acquired Sheffield United via a reverse takeover and as a result a new route for companies to obtain a listing on a stock exchange had been created and Michaels stock market career was launched.
In the late 1990s he was involved in a flurry of similar deals bringing to market larger companies such as Prestbury Group with Nigel Wray and Nick Leslau,The Pharmacy Restaurant in Notting Hill with Matthew Freud and Damien Hirst and most famously Knutsford where his co-investors were Julian Richer, Sir Archie Norman and again Wray and Leslau. Knutsford reached an amazing value of £1billion within a month of flotation and the Knutsford story is quoted in many business schools around the world.
He attracted many celebrity investors as he continued to float his shells, amongst them Alan Hansen, David Baddiel, Angus Deayton as well as numerous other sportsmen and even the investment arm of Her Majesty the Queen. His reputation for fairness and innovation has reaped rewards for many investors.
As a result of all of the transactions, he was dubbed "The Shellmeister" by City journalist Richard Rivlin in the Sunday Telegraph and the nickname stuck. He has now floated over 20 companies since Prestbury some of which have performed spectacularly as a result of having brought in budding entrepreneurs such as Nick Robertson of ASOS.com and Abby Hardoon of Magic Moments and later Host Europe.
In recent years he has continued as an investor in the Technology Sector, founding such companies as Ridgegate Digital plc, which set up FundedApps which does what it says on the label - offers funding for budding entrepreneurs to create Apps for their own ideas within the Funded Apps incubator, as well as AllBabble Ltd, a celebrity based social networking site.
Michael Edelson has been a non-exec Director of Manchester United F.C. since 1982. He was appointed to the board by Martin Edwards to replace Matt Busby who had become club president earlier the same year. Michael joined James Gulliver who had built up the Edwards family meat business into the £4 billion Argyll Group and Alan Gibson, the son of James Gibson, who was Manchester United's Chairman from 1932 to 1951 and whose loans saved the club from extinction.
Michael was the first of a younger generation brought onto the board by Martin Edwards to replace the "old brigade" who had served Manchester United so well since World War II. Twelve months later, he was joined by Bobby Charlton and Maurice Watkins, the club solicitor.
During his long period on the Board he has seen a variety of ownership periods ranging from the Edwards family through the Michael Knighton saga to being a quoted PLC, failed attempts to acquire the Company from Robert Maxwell,Rupert Murdoch and Sky television to the Red Knights and the most recent period of ownership by the Glazer family, a successful period during which United won 3 Premier League Titles, 3 League Cups, One Champions League and one World Club Championship.
Michael was instrumental in the appointment of Sir Alex Ferguson as the manager of Manchester United in November 1986. On Sir Alex Ferguson's 25th Anniversary at the helm of Manchester United Michael, Martin Edwards, Bobby Charlton and Maurice Watkins relived the day they made the appointment.