He's good for billions, he owns the English football club Charlton, and then he calls himself 'Rockstar CEO'. Sandgaard hides a quite sensational story, which really started in 1996, when he took the chance and moved from Ringe on Funen to the USA.
B.T. catches Thomas Sandgaard on the phone while enjoying the sun in Key West, Florida, where he has spent the Christmas days.
On a daily basis, he lives in Colorado, where the whole billion-dollar adventure began. The adventure that formed the breeding ground for the purchase of the tradition club Charlton earlier this year.
“It's the old-fashioned American dream. I started in a one bedroom apartment in Colorado and have built the company up to be listed and eventually be worth billions. For the first 20 years, I was almost personally bankrupt, ”he explains.
In the 1990s, he worked in a small medical company in Denmark that wanted to expand distribution to the United States. Everything was in place, but the company got cold feet. And here Sandgaard saw his cut to take the leap to the United States himself and take advantage of the contacts he had established.
It was the start of his company Zynex, which sells and manufactures medical equipment for pain management. In the new millennium, Sandgaard took step by step, but it was when the company smoked on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2019 that the step towards the really big billions was taken. Today, the market value of the company is almost three billion.
“We have over 500 salespeople now. And when there is wind in the sails, there is simply so much money in it in the United States. We have a company that is very profitable. I have benefited greatly from it over the last few years. It has given me the financial foundation to buy Charlton. Until two years ago, it was not something I wondered about. It was just about survival, "says Sandgaard.
In September, everything fell into place, and after a long negotiation, Thomas Sandgaard became the owner of Charlton, which plays daily in the third best English series - League One. The price is shot to be around 400-500 million kroner. But it was all worth the money, it sounds. A dream came true for Sandgaard, who had spent a lot of time researching the market for clubs in England.
However, complicated ownership and a club on the verge of bankruptcy did not make the task easy for him, he says. There should and must still be cleaned up. He spends a week at a time in London once a month, but otherwise he manages the club from his home outside of Denver, where he gets up at 3 a.m. local time. Currently, his own company Zynex is smoked in the background. It's about Charlton most hours.
“I run the club in the same way as my own company. I'm very involved - at least here in the beginning - so I'm sure we'll get the right culture set. It is a club that has been abused for the last seven years. There are quite a few things that people need to get used to being in a different way. I am involved in everything from which lawn mowers to buy, to the player dealers themselves, "he says, adding that he has drawn up a plan five to eight years into the future.
"It is very simple. There is a lot of pressure on us to move up this year. At least within two years we must be in the Championship (the second best row, ed.). Here I reckon it will take us three to four years to get up in the Premier League. We are already in the process of putting the foundation stones in place. I'm building everything up now. How to run the academy, how to find players. There must be a stronger foundation than so-called elevator teams that move up and then down. We must avoid that scenario. "
"In the long run - maybe in eight years - we will be playing European football. There we must think internationally also in relation to recruitment. And that is also what we are slowly building up. "
Sandgaard is only well on its way to building up its network in the football world. Through the law firm that helped him with the takeover of Charlton, he has, according to his own statement, created prominent partners.
‘Now I can not put names on. But I have made some good friends at the six best clubs in England. "
No names?
‘No, but they give me a lot of help. There I get the biggest help, I would say. The law firm I use also has a lot of experience with the top of English football. And then I also talked a bit with Rasmus Ankersen (sports manager in Brentford and chairman of the board of FC Midtjylland, ed.) Over a breakfast about how he has created success with Thomas Frank and the Danes. It was very interesting, "he says.
He himself does not deny that Charlton can get a Danish touch in the future. Sandgaard already has a good eye for FC Midtjylland striker Ronnie Schwartz, but right now it's about building on the dream in Charlton.
The dream that really started in 1996, when Sandgaard left Ringe for the United States.
Nice one for putting that up,it still don’t feel real sometimes that we have struck this lucky with Thomas...can’t wait to get a filled up capacity Valley to give him the hero’s welcome he fully deserves...think he loves us as much as we love him...
He's good for billions, he owns the English football club Charlton, and then he calls himself 'Rockstar CEO'. Sandgaard hides a quite sensational story, which really started in 1996, when he took the chance and moved from Ringe on Funen to the USA.
B.T. catches Thomas Sandgaard on the phone while enjoying the sun in Key West, Florida, where he has spent the Christmas days.
On a daily basis, he lives in Colorado, where the whole billion-dollar adventure began. The adventure that formed the breeding ground for the purchase of the tradition club Charlton earlier this year.
“It's the old-fashioned American dream. I started in a one bedroom apartment in Colorado and have built the company up to be listed and eventually be worth billions. For the first 20 years, I was almost personally bankrupt, ”he explains.
In the 1990s, he worked in a small medical company in Denmark that wanted to expand distribution to the United States. Everything was in place, but the company got cold feet. And here Sandgaard saw his cut to take the leap to the United States himself and take advantage of the contacts he had established.
It was the start of his company Zynex, which sells and manufactures medical equipment for pain management. In the new millennium, Sandgaard took step by step, but it was when the company smoked on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2019 that the step towards the really big billions was taken. Today, the market value of the company is almost three billion.
“We have over 500 salespeople now. And when there is wind in the sails, there is simply so much money in it in the United States. We have a company that is very profitable. I have benefited greatly from it over the last few years. It has given me the financial foundation to buy Charlton. Until two years ago, it was not something I wondered about. It was just about survival, "says Sandgaard.
In September, everything fell into place, and after a long negotiation, Thomas Sandgaard became the owner of Charlton, which plays daily in the third best English series - League One. The price is shot to be around 400-500 million kroner. But it was all worth the money, it sounds. A dream came true for Sandgaard, who had spent a lot of time researching the market for clubs in England.
However, complicated ownership and a club on the verge of bankruptcy did not make the task easy for him, he says. There should and must still be cleaned up. He spends a week at a time in London once a month, but otherwise he manages the club from his home outside of Denver, where he gets up at 3 a.m. local time. Currently, his own company Zynex is smoked in the background. It's about Charlton most hours.
“I run the club in the same way as my own company. I'm very involved - at least here in the beginning - so I'm sure we'll get the right culture set. It is a club that has been abused for the last seven years. There are quite a few things that people need to get used to being in a different way. I am involved in everything from which lawn mowers to buy, to the player dealers themselves, "he says, adding that he has drawn up a plan five to eight years into the future.
"It is very simple. There is a lot of pressure on us to move up this year. At least within two years we must be in the Championship (the second best row, ed.). Here I reckon it will take us three to four years to get up in the Premier League. We are already in the process of putting the foundation stones in place. I'm building everything up now. How to run the academy, how to find players. There must be a stronger foundation than so-called elevator teams that move up and then down. We must avoid that scenario. "
"In the long run - maybe in eight years - we will be playing European football. There we must think internationally also in relation to recruitment. And that is also what we are slowly building up. "
Sandgaard is only well on its way to building up its network in the football world. Through the law firm that helped him with the takeover of Charlton, he has, according to his own statement, created prominent partners.
‘Now I can not put names on. But I have made some good friends at the six best clubs in England. "
No names?
‘No, but they give me a lot of help. There I get the biggest help, I would say. The law firm I use also has a lot of experience with the top of English football. And then I also talked a bit with Rasmus Ankersen (sports manager in Brentford and chairman of the board of FC Midtjylland, ed.) Over a breakfast about how he has created success with Thomas Frank and the Danes. It was very interesting, "he says.
He himself does not deny that Charlton can get a Danish touch in the future. Sandgaard already has a good eye for FC Midtjylland striker Ronnie Schwartz, but right now it's about building on the dream in Charlton.
The dream that really started in 1996, when Sandgaard left Ringe for the United States.
Nice to see he is allowing for two years to get back to the Championship. Bowyer is the man to do this.
Nice one for putting that up,it still don’t feel real sometimes that we have struck this lucky with Thomas...can’t wait to get a filled up capacity Valley to give him the hero’s welcome he fully deserves...think he loves us as much as we love him...
We struck lucky with TS but let’s hope time will show TS struck lucky with Charlton
He worked on the last ownership changes at Liverpool and West Ham as well as Newcastle. Also worked on a successful challenge to a UEFA Champions League ban, which I think could be Man City. The Firm also worked on the last Man United change of ownership as well.
"It is very simple. There is a lot of pressure on us to move up this year. At least within two years we must be in the Championship (the second best row, ed.). Here I reckon it will take us three to four years to get up in the Premier League. We are already in the process of putting the foundation stones in place. I'm building everything up now. How to run the academy, how to find players. There must be a stronger foundation than so-called elevator teams that move up and then down. We must avoid that scenario. "
I thought it was this season or bust according to some on here?
"It is very simple. There is a lot of pressure on us to move up this year. At least within two years we must be in the Championship (the second best row, ed.). Here I reckon it will take us three to four years to get up in the Premier League. We are already in the process of putting the foundation stones in place. I'm building everything up now. How to run the academy, how to find players. There must be a stronger foundation than so-called elevator teams that move up and then down. We must avoid that scenario. "
I thought it was this season or bust according to some on here?
Or, if we think that this season is unlikely, then we have to give ourselves the very best chance next season.
Does this squad and this manager make you think that is likely? Thomas's self-imposed clock is ticking.
Comments
Sandgaard hides a quite sensational story, which really started in 1996, when he took the chance and moved from Ringe on Funen to the USA.
B.T. catches Thomas Sandgaard on the phone while enjoying the sun in Key West, Florida, where he has spent the Christmas days.
On a daily basis, he lives in Colorado, where the whole billion-dollar adventure began. The adventure that formed the breeding ground for the purchase of the tradition club Charlton earlier this year.
“It's the old-fashioned American dream. I started in a one bedroom apartment in Colorado and have built the company up to be listed and eventually be worth billions. For the first 20 years, I was almost personally bankrupt, ”he explains.
In the 1990s, he worked in a small medical company in Denmark that wanted to expand distribution to the United States. Everything was in place, but the company got cold feet. And here Sandgaard saw his cut to take the leap to the United States himself and take advantage of the contacts he had established.
It was the start of his company Zynex, which sells and manufactures medical equipment for pain management. In the new millennium, Sandgaard took step by step, but it was when the company smoked on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2019 that the step towards the really big billions was taken. Today, the market value of the company is almost three billion.
“We have over 500 salespeople now. And when there is wind in the sails, there is simply so much money in it in the United States. We have a company that is very profitable. I have benefited greatly from it over the last few years. It has given me the financial foundation to buy Charlton. Until two years ago, it was not something I wondered about. It was just about survival, "says Sandgaard.
In September, everything fell into place, and after a long negotiation, Thomas Sandgaard became the owner of Charlton, which plays daily in the third best English series - League One. The price is shot to be around 400-500 million kroner. But it was all worth the money, it sounds. A dream came true for Sandgaard, who had spent a lot of time researching the market for clubs in England.
However, complicated ownership and a club on the verge of bankruptcy did not make the task easy for him, he says. There should and must still be cleaned up. He spends a week at a time in London once a month, but otherwise he manages the club from his home outside of Denver, where he gets up at 3 a.m. local time. Currently, his own company Zynex is smoked in the background. It's about Charlton most hours.
“I run the club in the same way as my own company. I'm very involved - at least here in the beginning - so I'm sure we'll get the right culture set. It is a club that has been abused for the last seven years. There are quite a few things that people need to get used to being in a different way. I am involved in everything from which lawn mowers to buy, to the player dealers themselves, "he says, adding that he has drawn up a plan five to eight years into the future.
"It is very simple. There is a lot of pressure on us to move up this year. At least within two years we must be in the Championship (the second best row, ed.). Here I reckon it will take us three to four years to get up in the Premier League. We are already in the process of putting the foundation stones in place. I'm building everything up now. How to run the academy, how to find players. There must be a stronger foundation than so-called elevator teams that move up and then down. We must avoid that scenario. "
"In the long run - maybe in eight years - we will be playing European football. There we must think internationally also in relation to recruitment. And that is also what we are slowly building up. "
Sandgaard is only well on its way to building up its network in the football world. Through the law firm that helped him with the takeover of Charlton, he has, according to his own statement, created prominent partners.
‘Now I can not put names on. But I have made some good friends at the six best clubs in England. "
No names?
‘No, but they give me a lot of help. There I get the biggest help, I would say. The law firm I use also has a lot of experience with the top of English football. And then I also talked a bit with Rasmus Ankersen (sports manager in Brentford and chairman of the board of FC Midtjylland, ed.) Over a breakfast about how he has created success with Thomas Frank and the Danes. It was very interesting, "he says.
He himself does not deny that Charlton can get a Danish touch in the future. Sandgaard already has a good eye for FC Midtjylland striker Ronnie Schwartz, but right now it's about building on the dream in Charlton.
The dream that really started in 1996, when Sandgaard left Ringe for the United States.
Bowyer is the man to do this.
Chris Mort at Freshfields = Newcastle?
eg I hate to say it I initially thought of Palace and Steve Parish but then realised they're thankfully far from being one of the six best!!
The money is to be used to fund drug treatment and other measures aimed at addressing the crisis.
I assume that a lot of this money will go to Zynex with their anti opioid treatments?
Does this squad and this manager make you think that is likely? Thomas's self-imposed clock is ticking.