The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the world’s famous T20 franchise tournament featuring a huge fan base blended with sportsmanship, high-voltage drama, and adrenaline-pumping moments. Since the inaugural season in 2008, the league has been popular for its thrilling matches and highly rated players that have continued to captivate millions of viewers’ attention worldwide.

Recently, the IPL 2025 mega auction concluded as a blockbuster event with all ten franchises spending a record-breaking sum of INR 639.15 crore on 182 players.

Have you ever wondered about the real faces contributing to the franchises’ success in each edition? It is the team owners who are the unsung heroes and work behind the scenes by investing a million-dollar fund earned from various businesses to operate a franchise successfully on a long-term basis and acquire talented players during the auction.

Till the 17th season of the league, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) have been the most successful franchises by lifting the trophy five times, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with three wins.

Teams like Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Gujarat Titans (GT) have been the title winners at least once. On the other hand, a few franchise owners are still trying their best to bolster the squad in every auction with the hopes of claiming the maiden IPL title. It includes teams such as Punjab Kings (PBKS), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Delhi Capitals (DC) which is yet to win the IPL trophy for the first time.

As the IPL 2025 commences on March 14, let’s look over the owners of all ten franchises ahead of the 18th season.

1. Chennai Super Kings (CSK):

N Srinivasan—the current managing director (M.D) of India Cements Limited and the former president of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has been the leading decision-maker for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) since its debut in 2008. Over these years, Srinivasan has played an effective role in management and strategically guiding his franchise to success.

2. Mumbai Indians (MI):

The Reliance Group controlled by Mukesh Ambani owns the Mumbai Indians team. His wife Nita Ambani and the elder son Aakash Ambani co-own the franchise and have been active in the team’s operation over these years. Interestingly, the MI owner additionally owns three other franchises in other leagues, including a sibling franchise in the Women’s Premier League as well.

3. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH):

Kalanithi Maran —- the founder and chairman of Sun Group Private Limited, owns Sunrisers Hyderabad ever since the termination of the Deccan Chargers franchise in 2012.

Hailed from a political background in Tamil Nadu, Kalanithi’s owned Sun Network has established its dominance in the entertainment and media industry operating in sectors such as cinema production, publishing, DTH service, and several others.

His daughter Kavya Maran as the co-owner of SRH, has been actively involved in the team’s operation since 2020. In addition, the Sun Group owns the SunRisers Eastern Cape in the SA20 League.

4. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR):

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is jointly owned by the world’s famous actor Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywoodactress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta.

SRK, as the most prominent celebrity and the owner of Red Chillies Entertainment has invested 55% for the franchise. The Mehta Group directed by Jay Mehta and Juhi Chawla has a remaining 45% ownership share in the team. 

5. Rajasthan Royals (RR):

The ownership pattern of Rajasthan Royals has been distinctive compared to other IPL franchises.

Manoj Badal— the owner of Emerging Media IPL Ltd holds 65% of the shares and 15% of them is retained by the RedBird Capital Partners owner Gerry Cardinale. Although Lachlan Murdoch is another shareholder, his share isn’t revealed officially.

6. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB):

United Spirits— the counterpart of Diageo and India’s top alcoholic beverage company’s chairman Prathmesh Mishra takes charge of the RCB franchise’s business and the operational strategy. Despite having high-profile cricketers like Virat Kohli in the squad, the team is yet to win its IPL trophy.

7. Gujarat Titans (GT):

In October 2021, CVC Capital Partners acquired the Gujarat Titans franchise for a mammoth bid of INR 5,625 crore. The British-based private equity and investment firm provides an in-depth strategic approach that has resulted in the GT rising to dominance faster and winning their championship title in their maiden season in 2022.

8. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG):

The RPSG Group owner Sanjiv Goenka earlier owned the franchise Rising Pune Supergiants during the 2016 and 2017 editions when CSK and RR were banned for these two years due to a spot-fixing scandal. In October 2021, the chairman of the RPSG group acquired a massive bid of INR 7,090 crores to establish a Lucknow-based franchise for the next IPL season.

9. Delhi Capitals (DC):

The ownership of the Delhi Capitals franchise is equally shared between these two groups namely the GMR Group (Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao) and the JSW Group (Jindal South West). Additionally, Parth Jindal— the director of JSW sports actively involves in the team’s operation along with the GMR Group CEO Kiran Grandhi. 

Especially, Parth is known for his unique approach in the auction process that includes IPL, the sibling franchises in the Women’s Premier League as well as the foreign T20 leagues.

10. Punjab Kings (PBKS):

Punjab Kings is co-owned by the Bollywood actress Preity Zinta along with three other businessmen Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, and Karan Paul.

According to the sources, a majority of 48% of shares is held by Mohit Burman, while Preity and Wadia equally share 23% ownership, leaving Karan Paul with the remaining 6% stakes.