Source: Telegraph
Sunderland's Ellis Short may lose cloak of invisibility
Sir Allen Stanford hails from the city of Mexia but spent much of the last 30 years reminding the world that he had moved on. Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks, meanwhile, is a public figure in Dallas, lives in the same neighbourhood as George W Bush and is effectively Texan royalty. [LNB]Much less is known about a third sporting son of the Lone Star state with English interests. Ellis Short is the principal shareholder in Sunderland football club and the man, according to Roy Keane, now doing the hiring and firing there. Compared to Stanford and Hicks he is invisible. [LNB] Related ArticlesKeane left players 'disheartened'[LNB]Wenger blames Sunderland after dull display[LNB]Keane tells it like it is...[LNB]Most influential Americans in the UK: 30 to 21[LNB]Sunderland takeover by Ellis Short imminent[LNB]Paper View: Barca bank on Ronaldo move[LNB]An intensely private man, Short had hoped to take a controlling stake in Sunderland without any public scrutiny. That plan failed when Telegraph Sport revealed the financier's stake on Wearside last September, but he remains elusive. [LNB]He is known to have a significant interest in Kitano Capital, a Dallas-based asset management company, but inquiries at their offices are politely rebuffed, as are calls to his highest-profile UK investment, Skibo Castle. [LNB]Security concerns are understood to be the principal reason for Short's reticence, but with fans demanding to know more and the Premier League under Government pressure to improve transparency of ownership, he may not be able to remain entirely under the radar. [LNB]
