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Daniel Levy (businessman)
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Daniel Levy (businessman)
Daniel Philip Levy (born 8 February 1962) is an English businessman, who served as executive chairman of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur FC from February 2001 until September 2025, becoming the league’s longest-serving executive in that role.
Daniel Philip Levy was born on 8 February 1962 in Essex, England, to Jewish parents. His father Barry Levy was the owner of a clothing retail business Mr Byrite (later rebranded as Blue Inc). He is a lifelong Tottenham Hotspur supporter, and attended his first match at White Hart Lane against Queens Park Rangers when he was seven or eight in the 1960s. He studied Economics and Land Economy at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and graduated in 1985 with a First Class Honours Degree.
After graduating, Levy was involved in several businesses, including his family business, Mr Byrite, and property development. He went into investment banking, investing in private equity, and raising money to invest in many different companies. He formed a business association with Joe Lewis in an investment trust called ENIC International Ltd and became its managing director in 1995. Levy turned ENIC into a sports, entertainment and media company. As of 2025, Levy and his family owned 29.4% of the share capital of ENIC, while Lewis owned 70.6%.
ENIC bought shares in six European clubs, including a minority stake in Tottenham Hotspur. ENIC held a significant stake in Scottish football club Rangers, and Levy was a director of the club until 2004. ENIC also held stakes in AEK Athens, Slavia Prague, FC Basel and Vicenza, as well as non-football companies such as Warner Bros Restaurants and a Cambridge software company, Autonomy. He bought a significant stake in Tottenham Hotspur and became its chairman in 2001; UEFA rules not allowing clubs with the same owner to compete in the same competition led to the eventual sale of the others.
Levy first made an attempt to buy Tottenham Hotspur from Alan Sugar in July 1998 but failed. Another attempt was made in July 2000 which was also rejected, but increasing hostility by fans towards Sugar eventually persuaded him to sell. Levy was then appointed to the board of Tottenham Hotspur on 20 December 2000 after ENIC initiated the purchase of a 27% stake in the club from Sugar for £22 million, bringing their total stake to 29.9%, the maximum permissible before ENIC had to bid for the entire company. He replaced Sugar as executive chairman of Tottenham Hotspur in February 2001 on the completion of the sale, and took over the day-to-day running of the club in October 2001. ENIC eventually substantially increased their shareholding and gained control of the company after buying the remaining shares from Sugar in 2007 for £25m, as well as those of other shareholders, eventually acquiring 85.55% of Tottenham. ENIC moved the club into private ownership in 2012. Levy became the highest-paid Premier League chief executive, with an annual remuneration of over £6 million in the 2016–17 season. On 4 September 2025, Levy stepped down as the executive chairman of Tottenham Hotspur as part of a broader management shake-up. He was succeeded by Peter Charrington.
The first manager appointed with Levy at the helm was Glenn Hoddle in 2001. Hoddle was sacked following a poor start to the 2003–04 season in September 2003. He was followed in quick succession by Jacques Santini and Martin Jol. Jol had some success moving Tottenham out of the mid-table position, but was dismissed in the 2007–08 season after the team had only won one out of the first ten games.
Juande Ramos succeeded as head coach in 2008. He delivered the League Cup, the first trophy under Levy's stewardship and the club's first in nine years, but Levy made the decision to replace him with Harry Redknapp on 25 October 2008 after Ramos made the worst start to a league campaign in the club's history during the 2008–09 season. Redknapp guided Spurs to a top-four finish in the 2009–10 season, winning an entry into the qualification round of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Tottenham reached the knockout stage of the 2010–11 Champions League but lost there to Real Madrid 0–5 on aggregate. The club finished fifth in the Premier League in the 2010–11 season, missing out on Champions League qualification but securing a place in the Europa League. On 13 June 2012, Redknapp was sacked after failing to agree terms for a new deal.
On 3 July, Levy appointed former Chelsea and Porto boss Andre Villas-Boas the team's new head coach. Following some poor results in the first half of the 2013–14 season, including a 5–0 home defeat to Liverpool, Levy sacked Villas-Boas on 16 December 2013. Head of Football Development and former player Tim Sherwood was subsequently announced as head coach, but he also left at the end of the season.
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Daniel Levy (businessman)
Daniel Philip Levy (born 8 February 1962) is an English businessman, who served as executive chairman of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur FC from February 2001 until September 2025, becoming the league’s longest-serving executive in that role.
Daniel Philip Levy was born on 8 February 1962 in Essex, England, to Jewish parents. His father Barry Levy was the owner of a clothing retail business Mr Byrite (later rebranded as Blue Inc). He is a lifelong Tottenham Hotspur supporter, and attended his first match at White Hart Lane against Queens Park Rangers when he was seven or eight in the 1960s. He studied Economics and Land Economy at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and graduated in 1985 with a First Class Honours Degree.
After graduating, Levy was involved in several businesses, including his family business, Mr Byrite, and property development. He went into investment banking, investing in private equity, and raising money to invest in many different companies. He formed a business association with Joe Lewis in an investment trust called ENIC International Ltd and became its managing director in 1995. Levy turned ENIC into a sports, entertainment and media company. As of 2025, Levy and his family owned 29.4% of the share capital of ENIC, while Lewis owned 70.6%.
ENIC bought shares in six European clubs, including a minority stake in Tottenham Hotspur. ENIC held a significant stake in Scottish football club Rangers, and Levy was a director of the club until 2004. ENIC also held stakes in AEK Athens, Slavia Prague, FC Basel and Vicenza, as well as non-football companies such as Warner Bros Restaurants and a Cambridge software company, Autonomy. He bought a significant stake in Tottenham Hotspur and became its chairman in 2001; UEFA rules not allowing clubs with the same owner to compete in the same competition led to the eventual sale of the others.
Levy first made an attempt to buy Tottenham Hotspur from Alan Sugar in July 1998 but failed. Another attempt was made in July 2000 which was also rejected, but increasing hostility by fans towards Sugar eventually persuaded him to sell. Levy was then appointed to the board of Tottenham Hotspur on 20 December 2000 after ENIC initiated the purchase of a 27% stake in the club from Sugar for £22 million, bringing their total stake to 29.9%, the maximum permissible before ENIC had to bid for the entire company. He replaced Sugar as executive chairman of Tottenham Hotspur in February 2001 on the completion of the sale, and took over the day-to-day running of the club in October 2001. ENIC eventually substantially increased their shareholding and gained control of the company after buying the remaining shares from Sugar in 2007 for £25m, as well as those of other shareholders, eventually acquiring 85.55% of Tottenham. ENIC moved the club into private ownership in 2012. Levy became the highest-paid Premier League chief executive, with an annual remuneration of over £6 million in the 2016–17 season. On 4 September 2025, Levy stepped down as the executive chairman of Tottenham Hotspur as part of a broader management shake-up. He was succeeded by Peter Charrington.
The first manager appointed with Levy at the helm was Glenn Hoddle in 2001. Hoddle was sacked following a poor start to the 2003–04 season in September 2003. He was followed in quick succession by Jacques Santini and Martin Jol. Jol had some success moving Tottenham out of the mid-table position, but was dismissed in the 2007–08 season after the team had only won one out of the first ten games.
Juande Ramos succeeded as head coach in 2008. He delivered the League Cup, the first trophy under Levy's stewardship and the club's first in nine years, but Levy made the decision to replace him with Harry Redknapp on 25 October 2008 after Ramos made the worst start to a league campaign in the club's history during the 2008–09 season. Redknapp guided Spurs to a top-four finish in the 2009–10 season, winning an entry into the qualification round of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Tottenham reached the knockout stage of the 2010–11 Champions League but lost there to Real Madrid 0–5 on aggregate. The club finished fifth in the Premier League in the 2010–11 season, missing out on Champions League qualification but securing a place in the Europa League. On 13 June 2012, Redknapp was sacked after failing to agree terms for a new deal.
On 3 July, Levy appointed former Chelsea and Porto boss Andre Villas-Boas the team's new head coach. Following some poor results in the first half of the 2013–14 season, including a 5–0 home defeat to Liverpool, Levy sacked Villas-Boas on 16 December 2013. Head of Football Development and former player Tim Sherwood was subsequently announced as head coach, but he also left at the end of the season.
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