David Sullivan steps down as West Ham chair amid allegations

David Sullivan has confirmed he will step down as chair of West Ham United with immediate effect. He said the decision is to fight false allegations about his private life after 16 years at the helm. The billionaire co-owner also denied claims of abusing his power and preying on women for sex. Multiple women have come forward with accusations dating back to the 1980s. Their claims were uncovered by a joint investigation by BBC Panorama and The Times. The women were late teens or early twenties when they were young models seeking work for Sullivan’s Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers. The Metropolitan Police said it is investigating a report relating to alleged taking of indecent images and sexual exploitation in London and Essex in the 1980s. The force indicated the investigation concerns one alleged victim. The police statement was released on Monday evening. Sullivan bought a controlling stake in West Ham United with fellow businessman David Gold in 2010. The partnership made both men co‑owners of the club. Sullivan remains the majority shareholder after stepping down as chair. Born in Cardiff in 1949 to a Royal Air Force officer and his wife, Sullivan sold football programmes as a teenager before earning an economics degree at Queen Mary University. He then worked as an advertising executive. In the early 1970s he set up a business with a university friend selling photos of topless female models from a warehouse in East London. The venture quickly expanded into pornographic magazines and books, prompting the now‑defunct News of the World to label Sullivan and his partner “Britain’s newest purveyors of filth”. The enterprise was short‑lived; both were charged with conspiring to publish obscene material and each was fined £50 after pleading guilty at the Old Bailey. Sullivan stayed in the adult industry, growing his porn empire to sell over a million copies a month by the late 1970s and advertising sex toys and films. He opened a chain of sex shops and began producing his own adult films, becoming a millionaire by age 25. By the start of the 1980s his estimated wealth was £10 million and his empire included more than 100 sex shops. In 1993 Sullivan entered football ownership by purchasing Birmingham City with David Gold and Ralph Gold, installing Baroness Karren Brady as managing director. He later took over West Ham United with Gold in 2010, bringing Brady in as vice‑chair. Supporters have criticised Sullivan’s tenure for limited spending and poor performance; Brady left the club in April and the team was relegated from the Premier League this season. According to the 2026 Sunday Times Rich List, Sullivan’s net worth is £1.1 billion, ranking him 149th richest in Britain.