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Randolph D. Lerner (born 1962) is an American entrepreneur and sports team owner. more...

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Lerner has been the owner of the American football team, the Cleveland Browns, of the National Football League (NFL) since October 2002, and the Chairman of Aston Villa Football Club since 2006. His personal fortune is estimated at USD 1.6 billion.

Lerner graduated from Columbia University in 1984, spending 1983 at Clare College in Cambridge, England. During his time at Cambridge Lerner followed English football (soccer), taking an interest in three teams: Arsenal, Fulham and Aston Villa. He graduated from Columbia Law School and is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bar Associations. Prior to entering the business world, he worked as a lawyer in New York City.

Although he had grown up in the United States, with a father who had been involved with the original Cleveland Browns franchise under Art Modell, Lerner's interest in England's top flight endured long after he had returned to the States. He eventually added Aston Villa to his list of investments, becoming the second American owner of a Premiership club in 2006 - the first being Malcolm Glazer, who purchased the majority share of Manchester United in 2005. Since then Liverpool FC has also had American investment in the shape of George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

Business history

Lerner's business career began at the Progressive Corporation as an investment analyst. In 1991, he started an independent investment firm with Progressive capital called Securities Advisors, Inc. (SAI), which he owned and managed until 2001. SAI initially specialized in arbitrage before shifting its focus to equity investing.

In 1993, Lerner became a director at MBNA, a company in which his father was founder and builder, and continued to lead until his father's death at which time he became company chairman.

Sports team ownership

Cleveland Browns

Control of the Browns was given to Lerner, when his father, Al Lerner died in October 2002 - four years to the day after he was awarded the new Browns franchise. He also serves as a member of the National Football League's Business Ventures Committee. Lerner has generally been a low key owner since assuming control of the franchise.

Aston Villa

On 24 July 2006 it was reported that Randy Lerner intended to purchase English Premiership association football club Aston Villa F.C. following a statement from Cleveland Browns management indicating Lerner was pursuing business interests in the United Kingdom. Lerner pulled out of the bid to buy Aston Villa two days later after talks with the club chairman Doug Ellis broke down but the following day reports emerged that Lerner might still make a formal £64 million bid for the club.

Read more at Wikipedia.org