Who is Thomas Zilliacus? Surprise bidder for Manchester United profiled

The dramatic race to buy Manchester United has taken yet another twist after entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus confirmed he has launched a bid to buy the club.

Wednesday was a night of chaos as the 9pm deadline United had set for interested parties to lodge their second bids to either buy or invest the club was extended after the leading bids from Qatar bid of Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS group were not submitted.

While Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe are both looking to buy the club from the Glazer family, the possibility of the current owners staying in control, with fresh capital being offered up by a financial institution or hedge fund, hasn't been ruled out. But there are more parties looking to buy the club and Zilliacus' proposal may be the most novel and ambitious of them all.

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The 69-year-old has proposed a move that would see his group finance half of the purchase of the club while the other 50 per cent would come from United supporters themselves. But who is he?

Name: Thomas Henrik Zilliacus

Born: March 15, 1954

Age: 69

Nationality: Finland

Residence: Singapore

Net worth: Zilliacus' worth is not publicly known

Who is he?: Zilliacus began his career in business for Finish mobile giants Nokia as global head of corporate communications in 1980 and headed to Singapore in 1986 to lead the company's entry into the Asian market. In his positions, he played a big role in the company's shift towards technology, specifically mobile phones and away from the manufacturing of rubber products.

He left Nokia in 1993 and founded his own investment company named Mobile Future Works. He remains chairman of the company to this day and is