Jack Sullivan: West Ham director on trophies, succession and creating a legacy

Jack Sullivan is the son of West Ham’s biggest shareholder David Sullivan. He was raised in and around the Hammers and is using his experience to forge his own business path. In a ranging interview; he talks about his family, West Ham and the future.

If you were to ask any fan of West Ham United where they were exactly 342 days ago, on the evening of 8 June, there’s a high chance they were somewhere between Upton Park, the club’s former home, and Stratford Town Hall.

Because nearly 12 months ago the London club that now calls the former Olympic Stadium home won a first major European trophy since 1965. Back then it was Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, last year it was the now departed Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta.

Doing it for dad

“One of the big things for me, which was nice for Dad, was that when he bought the club he wanted to get European football to West Ham,” Jack Sullivan, West Ham director and son of biggest shareholder David tells City A.M. 

“We don’t necessarily have the same trophy cabinet as some of the Big Six so to add one more trophy into that was incredible.”

Sullivan’s father, David, made his fortune – put by the Sunday Times Rich List at north of £1bn – first in the world of pornography and then in news media and property.

In 2010 he and the late David Gold purchased their boyhood club, having recently sold Birmingham City to Hong Kong suitors. 

Since then the Hammers have moved to the London Stadium, grown the club’s value to an estimated £800m, and finally won a trophy.

Jack Sullivan, 24, and his older brother David are now directors of the club, with Jack having previously been managing director of West Ham Women. Dad David still holds the biggest stake in the club, at 38.8 per cent.

To be honest, I can never see dad retiring at all. He is a workaholic, he loves to work. Jack Sullivan

Sullivan in the classroom

“West Ham has been a great classroom and to be honest with you, we’ve got so many great teachers,” Sullivan adds. 

“We have amazing staff that have been there for five, 10, 15 years. They really get football, they understand football. Dad’s always put a lot of faith into young people and Karren [Brady, vice-chair] has obviously been a prime example of that. 

“When we were younger, whenever West Ham or another business had a problem, Dad would talk to us about what he was going to do to keep us involved.

“We’ve got to try and make strategic decisions that not everyone’s going to understand, but to help grow the football club. 

“If McDonald’s changed the flavour of their chicken nuggets, people would be upset. If West Ham changed the colour of their kit, that would cause a huge uproar. It’s the same.”

While Sullivan will remain a director and at the end of the phone whenever needed, he is spending more time on his own projects.

He has invested in a company called Supply Life, which focuses on wellness and intolerances, while also dabbling in recruitment, property and the care system.

Workaholic

An ambassador for a local hospice and a champion of talking about dyslexia, Sullivan is clearly not simply relying on the hope of taking over from his father.

He adds: “To be honest, I can never see dad retiring at all. He is a workaholic, he loves to work. I’ve always said if he wants me to do anything then I would love to.

“We don’t always agree on everything and he’s quite good, because he’ll say what he thinks but back me to do what I want [in my businesses].

“I’m incredibly lucky that I had lunch with him today and I’ll have dinner with him tonight, and I probably do that three or four times a week. I’ve been given an amazing design manual by my dad and by all these other amazing people.”

The Premier League’s enormous growth has made a playground for billionaires from around the world. That has made the Sullivans a rare example of English ownership, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, Jack explains.

“It’s nice to have English owners in the Premier League but at the same time if you take Man City [UAE owners], they’ve brought so much to Manchester and they’ve spent their money to develop that area and brought a lot of joy to that city,” he says.

“London’s a cosmopolitan city. The most important thing for me is if people are going to invest money here then it’s for the right reasons. Suddenly there’s probably 10 or 12 teams that think they can get Europe at the start of the season.”

West Ham legacy

Sullivan has been given a big leg up in life, but he seems to recognise that privilege – and that everyone has their own path to success, or at least fulfilment. Like most people, he also wants to make others proud.

“I would love to be in the position where I can say to my kids ‘I did this’ and I think that’s some form of – though I don’t really like the word – legacy,” he says.

“I just want to be happy, to build and help grow things. But at the same time, there’s so many ways to be successful. And I look at some people, and it’s not for me, but they do an amazing job like nursing and people also develop at different times as well.

“For all I know everything could go wrong in a year’s time and we’re back to square one.”

Bringing a European trophy back to east London has fulfilled a dream for Jack, David and the club. But it’s given the fans a tangible reason to believe and continue to support, and that counts for a lot in a modern game where success can be fleeting.