The founder of RedBird Capital Partners, Gerry Cadinale, bought AC Milan in 2022. A year ago, when the team was trailing in the Italian league and ultimately failed to qualify for European competitions, many of the 75,000 fans at San Siro regularly chanted “Cardinale devi vendere” — Cardinale must sell. Off the pitch, plans for a new stadium kept being stalled by Italy’s notorious bureaucracy. In the media, reporters speculated that Elliott Investment Management was the real power behind the throne at the club since the US hedge fund sold AC Milan to RedBird while also lending Cardinale’s firm money to finance the purchase. He quickly notes in a lunch interview with the Financial Times that he’s already made progress. Since he took charge, AC Milan has posted three consecutive years of record profits after decades of losses — though, as in politics, fiscal responsibility rarely wins applause from fans. He thinks, everybody expects him to come in with a ton of money to buy top players...