John W Henry Tipped For Reds Takeover

WALL Street trader John W Henry is one of the most popular and powerful men in baseball. He owns the Boston Red Sox and famously helped break their 86-year duck shortly after taking over the club. They hadn't won a World Series since 1918, but two years after taking on the club they won in 2004. To underscore his prowess, the team won Baseball 's top prize again in 2007. The Boston Globe's Red Sox reporter Peter Abraham told the ECHO: "He is a very interesting guy. He made all his money in hedge funds. "He purchased the Florida team the Marlins, but he swapped it for the Red Sox. "He has been very popular in Boston." And in what could be music to the ears of LFC fans desperate to see a new stadium take shape in Stanley Park, Mr Abraham added: "The Red Sox have the second oldest stadium in baseball and he has fixed it up better than people thought he would. "He spent more than people thought he would, I would imagine probably $50m, if not more." Henry, who was born in Illinois in 1949, was reported to be worth $840m in 2006, which was before the credit crunch hit. His John W Henry and Company investment firm now handles around $270m of funds for clients, which include major institutions and "high net worth individuals". Mr Abraham continued: "Henry is a very statistics-minded man from his business. "The people he has hired have all been young, very smart guys."