American cryptocurrency moguls Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have finalised a £3.58m ($4.5m) investment in eighth-tier club Real Bedford FC, Sky Sports News can reveal.
The deal sees the Winklevoss brothers, who founded cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and have a net worth of £2.14bn ($2.7bn), take a 45 per cent stake in the club and become co-owners.
A deal in principle for their investment was reached and announced in April 2024 but final investment documents were only signed on Wednesday after full terms were agreed.
Sky Sports News understands the investment is in cash, not the cryptocurrency bitcoin, contrary to reports last year.
The Winklevoss twins, 43, will play an active role in Real Bedford’s growth alongside chair Peter McCormack, a cryptocurrency podcaster who bought the club in 2021.
Away from business, the twins are also known for having competed for the USA in the men’s pair rowing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The story of their long-running legal dispute with Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg was depicted in the 2010 film The Social Network. In 2011, the brothers’ claim that Zuckerberg stole their idea while classmates at Harvard University was dismissed in court as a judge ordered them to accept a cash and stock settlement in the platform.
Their long-term aim with Real Bedford is to reach the Premier League and their investment follows the success of Hollywood duo Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, who have fuelled Wrexham’s rise from the National League to League One since buying the club in 2021.
Salford City are another example of a club to have benefitted from high-profile investment having risen from the seventh tier to League Two following a takeover by former Manchester United players including Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes in 2014.
The process of rising through the leagues has already begun for Real Bedford under McCormack.
Their men’s team sit top of the Southern League Division One Central having achieved back-to-back promotions in the last two years.
The women’s team, Real Bedford Ladies, are also top of their division and on course for promotion to the third tier of women’s football.
Cameron Winklevoss explained their motivation for investing in the club on social media platform X last year, writing: “We believe that Real Bedford has the ability to defy the odds, upset the establishment and dethrone incumbents.
“We love underdog stories that have the ability to literally change the game.”
Rob Hepburn, a corporate lawyer at Simons Muirhead Burton who advised the Winklevoss’ on their investment, told Sky Sports News: “It’s a really exciting time for the lower leagues of football in England.
“We’ve seen the success that Salford City and Wrexham have had with big injections of cash and Real Bedford look set to continue the trend.
“The deal illustrates again the appeal of English football to investors, particularly where there is a media angle to it.
“While a deal in principle was announced back in April 2024, full terms were only recently agreed largely because of the level of active involvement Cameron and Tyler want to have in the club.
“They intend to be hands-on alongside co-owner Peter McCormack, who already has made huge strides with the club and with whom the brothers have formed a great working relationship.”
Real Bedford also recently announced a proposed merger with Bedford Town FC, who play in the Southern League Premier Division Central in the seventh tier.
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