Revealed- How Many CSK Shares MS Dhoni Has?

MS Dhoni owns shares in CSK franchise [Source: AFP]In a massive recent development, MS Dhoni has been found to be a stakeholder in the Indian Premier League team, Chennai Super Kings. Dhoni, who has been one of the founding pillars of the team as a player since its inauguration days, earlier rumoured to be a non-stakeholder, has now been reported to be an investor in the same.For the unaware, a few weeks earlier, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan himself denied rumours of him being a stakeholder of the Chennai Super Kings franchise that is currently worth ₹2,033 crore, according to the Houlihan Lokey IPL Brand Valuation.MS Dhoni is in possession of ₹3 Cr worth of shares of CSKSeveral earlier reports stated that Dhoni had expressed an interest in buying a stake in CSK, but the management did not agree to the terms proposed by their former captain. While that development was rightly shunned, a new report from Cricbuzz claims that the former India captain has almost 1 lakh shares of the franchise worth almost ₹2.6-3 Cr.Interestingly, this amount of shares was not exclusive to the cricketer, though. The major stakeholder of the company is the Srinivasan family, which holds a controlling stake of more than 55 per cent.More than 30 crore outstanding shares are held by the public, accounting for close to 40 per cent of the franchise’s total share capital that is available to the public, on which MS Dhoni has got his hands on.Also Read- Suresh Raina Reveals What MS Dhoni Told Him After His Shocking RetirementHow did MS Dhoni get hold of 1 lakh shares of CSK?Although Dhoni has not been officially engaged in a stakeholding business with the franchise, it has come to be known that the Indian player got his numbers when some of the shares of the Chennai Super Kings franchise were available for purchase. It is also important to note that the company is unlisted, which means it wasn’t available to the general public for investment. “CSK shares are not traded in the open market, as the company is unlisted; they can be acquired privately through off-market transactions,” the Cricbuzz report read.Significantly, a top CSK official, though, had earlier denied Dhoni contacting them for a stake in the franchise in which he has served for over 21 years.“MS has never asked us about it. We never discussed the matter. We also don’t have any information about him having discussed this with Mr N Srinivasan either,” said a senior CSK functionary.MS Dhoni’s diversified investment portfolioBesides his interest in cricketing franchises and gear, Dhoni is also an active investor across various niches in the market. The cricketer, worth 1,200 crore, has backed over 15 companies, focusing on tech, mobility, drones, and consumer goods via direct angel investments.Besides owning the Indian Super League (ISL) football club, Chennaiyin FC, MS Dhoni has also invested in SEVEN, SportsFit World, and Riti Sports. His notable out-of-sports investments are in Garuda Aerospace, CARS24, HomeLane, and EMotorad.He has also backed several startups like Rigi, Tagda Raho, 7Ink Brews, Acko, SolarSquare, and SpeakX, alongside investing in a plant-based meat consumer brand named Shaka Harry.Also Read- Rohit Sharma Gives Virat Kohli's Credit To Shikhar Dhawan, Forgets On National TV