The Ricketts family's bid to buy Chelsea is backed by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, the PA news agency understands.
Gilbert heads Rock Entertainment Group and boasts a personal estimated net worth of £24billion.
The 60-year-old numbers among America's wealthiest men, and adds yet more financial muscle to the Chicago Cubs-owning Ricketts family's bid to buy Chelsea.
Ken Griffin is the other main financial power in the Ricketts consortium, with the hedge fund magnate's personal fortune estimated at £22billion.
Gilbert and Griffin are understood to have been signed up to the Ricketts consortium from the start of the family's bid to take the helm at the Stamford Bridge club.