David Sullivan #

Introduction #

David Sullivan is a Welsh billionaire businessman who made his fortune in pornography and tabloid newspapers and served as chairman and co-owner of West Ham United from 2010 until 2026. On June 6, 2026, he announced his resignation as a director and co-chairman of the club — one day before the publication of a joint investigation by the BBC’s Panorama and The Times in which seven women accused him of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour spanning several decades. Sullivan denies all of the allegations, saying through his lawyers: “I categorically deny all of these complaints.” He has not been criminally charged over any of them.

Background Information #

Sullivan was born on February 5, 1949, in Cardiff, the son of an RAF serviceman, and grew up in a council house in nearby Penarth before his family moved to Essex; he read Economics at Queen Mary College, University of London. He made his initial fortune in the pornography industry in the 1970s and 1980s — sex shops, adult magazines and low-budget films — and by 25 was a millionaire. In 1982 he was convicted of living off immoral earnings; he successfully appealed against the sentence and was released after serving 71 days in prison. From 1986 to 2007 he owned the tabloid newspapers the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, selling them for £40 million, and he and business partner David Gold were previously joint-chairmen of Birmingham City before taking over West Ham in 2010; Gold died in 2023. The 2025 Sunday Times Rich List put his worth at £1.118 billion.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from a journalistic investigation. Sullivan was never criminally charged over them, they have never been tested or adjudicated in court, and he denies all of them.

The joint Panorama and Times investigation, published the day after Sullivan’s resignation, reported on seven women who accused him of sexual misconduct. All were models seeking work at his Daily and Sunday Sport newspapers in the 1980s and 1990s, when they were in their late teens or early twenties. Three alleged Sullivan abused his power as owner of the Sport newspapers to prey on them for sex when they were seeking work; four accused him of exploitative and predatory behaviour, including allegations he tried to pressure them into sex during business meetings. The Guardian described the Panorama inquiry as accusing Sullivan, a billionaire and co-owner of West Ham United, of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour towards women over several decades.

One woman alleged she was taken to the Sport titles’ offices in Manchester, where she was introduced to the then editor, Tony Livesey, and said he then called Sullivan to set up a meeting; the same woman described an unwanted sexual encounter with Sullivan during that meeting. The programming also revisited the papers’ “countdown to 16” feature, which counted down to models’ 16th birthdays, when they could legally be pictured topless for the first time; a passage in Livesey’s 1998 book said he and Sullivan had devised the idea, though Livesey later said the feature was “categorically” not his idea and that large parts of the book were “fictionalised” to make it appear he was “at the centre of all stories” even if he had not been. Sullivan, 77, responded through his lawyers with a categorical denial of all the complaints, framing his resignation as an intention to fight the allegations. The BBC did not comment on the conclusions of its investigation into the issues raised by Panorama.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The timing of Sullivan’s exit — announced June 6, 2026, before the investigation’s publication — drew immediate attention, and BBC Sport later reported there had been “an expectation it would eventually trigger his exit from the club.” That expectation has so far gone unmet: Sullivan remains at West Ham, and supporters have noticed. Travelling fans at Bolton chanted repeatedly about the former chairman, and none of the songs were complimentary. “It seemed Sullivan was going when he stepped down, but that hasn’t happened,” season-ticket holder Simon Lane told BBC Sport, asking whether he wanted more shares or wanted out. The fallout spread beyond Sullivan: Livesey, the Sport titles’ former editor-in-chief, left the BBC on August 3, 2026, after the same investigation named him in the 1999 meeting allegation, which he denies.

Current Status #

Sullivan remains on the West Ham scene despite giving up the chairmanship. He has attended all of the club’s home games this season and was also at Watford for a 1-1 draw, and under the complicated share agreement announced on September 3, 2026, he will end up with 40% of the club once it goes through as anticipated. Sullivan has clearly not disappeared from the West Ham picture, but BBC Sport’s chief football news reporter wrote that he is “nowhere near as influential”. Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is now chairman and is intended to become the largest shareholder with 46%. Sullivan has not been charged with any offence arising from the investigation and continues to deny all the complaints.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The allegations ended Sullivan’s 16-year run as West Ham chairman, a tenure begun in 2010 alongside David Gold, and stripped him of the day-to-day influence he exercised over the club for a decade and a half. Power has passed to Kretinsky, with Karim Virani earning praise as chief executive and director of football Nils Koppen now central to a recruitment operation BBC Sport described as transparent, in a summer that saw 12 players sold and nine arrive. Sullivan talks positively about Kretinsky privately and is unhappy the share process diverted attention from the transfer window — words, the report noted, that do not sound like someone planning fresh turmoil. But uncertainty lingers: a deal by former Newcastle director Amanda Staveley with Sullivan and Tripp Smith, who will hold 11%, could in theory give her over half the club, subject to pre-emption rights. His resignation as co-chairman stands as fact; the allegations that shadowed it remain unproven, denied, and unresolved.