 Chelsea Football Club were founded by Gus Mears in 1905 . After his death in 1912 , his descendents continued to own the club until 1982 , when Ken Bates bought the club from Mears ' great @-@ nephew Brian Mears for £ 1 . Bates bought a controlling stake in the club and floated Chelsea on the AIM stock exchange in March 1996 . In July 2003 , Roman Abramovich purchased just over 50 % of Chelsea Village plc 's share capital , including Bates ' 29 @.@ 5 % stake , for £ 30 million and over the following weeks bought out most of the remaining 12 @,@ 000 shareholders at 35 pence per share , completing a £ 140 million takeover . Other shareholders at the time of the takeover included the Matthew Harding estate ( 21 % ) , BSkyB ( 9 @.@ 9 % ) and various anonymous offshore trusts . After passing the 90 % share threshold , Abramovich took the club back into private hands , delisting it from the AIM on 22 August 2003 . He also took on responsibility for the club 's debt of £ 80 million , quickly paying most of it . 
