Thai Billionaire Owner Of Leicester City Dies In Helicopter Crash After Premier League Match

The duty-free tycoon and owner of Leicester City, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, died in a helicopter crash outside of the club’s King Power Stadium following the Foxes’ Premier League match on Saturday night.

Vichai, 60, and four other people were killed when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in a car park just outside the stadium shortly after taking off from the pitch. On Sunday evening, Leicester City confirmed the loss of its owner.

“It is with the deepest regret and a collective broken heart that we confirm our chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside King Power Stadium,” the club said in a statement.

Leicestershire police have named the other four passengers as the two pilots and two members of Vichai’s staff. Leicester City’s owner had been known to use the helicopter on match days to travel between the stadium and London.

Vichai was ranked the 5th-wealthiest person on the Thai Rich List in May, with a fortune estimated at $5.2 billion. His business empire was primarily based on King Power, the country’s leading operator of duty-free stores.

Born Vichai Raksriaksorn, he switched his last name when the monarchy bestowed upon him the honorific Srivaddhanaprabha, which means “light of progressive glory.”

King Power was started in the late 1980s when Vichai partnered with a group from Hong Kong, bought a concession to sell duty-free goods and opened up his first duty-free store in Bangkok.