West Ham United joint-chair Vanessa Gold has said she has agreed to sell her family’s shares in the club to a consortium led by former Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley.Gold, who inherited 25.1 per cent of her family’s shareholding and the position of joint-chair following the death of her father, David, in 2023, said the sale “remains subject to a pre-emption process”, which allows existing shareholders to buy out the Gold family’s shares.West Ham said in a statement it was aware of Gold’s announcement, and that it would make no further comment until the pre-emption process in complete, which “will take approximately two months”.Pre-emption rights are legal or contractual provisions that allow existing shareholders to purchase shares before they are offered to external parties.Existing shareholders include David Sullivan, who owns 38.8 per cent, and Daniel Kretinsky, through ‌1890s ⁠Holdings, who owns 27 per cent.West Ham said in June, following relegation to the Championship, that Czech billionaire Kretinsky would become the majority shareholder by buying 16 per cent of the Gold family’s shares, but that arrangement fell through.On Saturday, a statement from Vanessa Gold read, as cited by Reuters: “I have now reached an ​agreement to sell my family’s shareholding to a consortium of ⁠PCP Capital Partners, led by Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, in ​partnership with Ashland Forest Capital Partners.“While the process has not yet concluded, ​I wanted to be open with our fans about where things ​stand and my intentions.”The Staveley-led consortium said in a statement, per Sky News, that: “A legal binding agreement has been signed.“This sale agreement, though, remains subject to a pre-emption process under which existing shareholders have the option to buy the shares instead.”The Gold family’s stake in West Ham was put up for sale in October 2023, and Vanessa said at the time that a deal would be done “with my father’s legacy at the forefront of my mind”.Sullivan is still the club’s leading shareholder. In June, Sullivan resigned from his position as West Ham’s joint-chair after he was accused of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour against women over several decades. Sullivan denies the claims.Staveley and Ghodoussi departed Newcastle United in July 2024 after three years at the club. Together, they drove the deal which saw the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) purchase of an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle for £300million (now $404m).Gold said the consortium would “bring deep experience and understanding of what ⁠it ​takes to lead a successful football club”.West Ham, meanwhile, confirmed “the day-to-day running of the football club is in no way affected by this situation”.“Preparations for the new season continue to take shape with diligence and focus, and we thank all fans for their continued loyal backing at this time,” the club statement added.West Ham’s 2026-27 season begins at home to Portsmouth in the first round of the Carabao Cup on August 8.