The power shift at the top of Tottenham which ousted Daniel Levy is two-fold.First there is the element of natural succession within the ownership structure - with the two children of billionaire Joe Lewis determined to take a more active role in the club’s affairs.Then there is a desire to modernise, to leave behind the idea of the chairman with complete control of all realms and move towards specialists, which leaves a former Arsenal bigwig to inherit responsibility for the football side.Vinai Venkatesham arrived at Spurs in April having previously worked for 14 years on the red side of north London. The last six of those came in the key role of managing director after moving from chief commercial officer in 2018 to replace Ivan Gazidis.When he moved on, citing a desire for new challenges, he left behind a glowing reputation and is remembered at the Emirates Stadium as a perfect gentleman, polished, easy to work with and who fostered a healthy working environment.Less than a year after quitting Arsenal, he was confirmed as Tottenham’s next CEO, effectively replacing chief football officer Scott Munn at the end of the season.In June, after Thomas Frank had replaced Ange Postecoglou, Venkatesham and Levy performed a joint interview for the club’s media channels, in which they engaged in a little executive banter and confessed to both being ‘workaholics’ with a shared love of red wine.'Sometimes when you employ somebody you don’t know if you’re going to get on,' said Levy. 'But because we’ve known each other for so long the risk wasn’t there. Vinai is a good communicator. Honest. Integrity. Bright. He enjoys being challenged and I want to be challenged as well.'Venkatesham predicted the pair of them would form a ‘powerful partnership’, making the decisions together, pinging WhatsApp messages back and forth ‘at all hours’. Although, as things turned out, not for long.'A football club exists to make its supporters proud,' said Venkatesham, who worked on the London 2012 Olympics before joining Arsenal. 'The way to do that is by competing to win, ultimately winning trophies and doing that in a way that’s consistent with the histories, values and traditions of a club that has been built up over many decades.'He is set to take over much of the work Levy liked to do. Negotiating transfer deals and contracts, together with technical director Johan Lange. It will help if they start by repairing relationships with some clubs infuriated over time by Levy’s hard-bargaining style.Peter Charrington is the club’s new chairman but unlike Levy will perform the role as a non-executive. Levy's role, or indeed his title, is gone. Charrington, who joined the club’s board of directors in March, spent 26 years at Citibank and has long been a trusted advisor to the Lewis family.He is frequently in London, although splits his time between the UK and the Bahamas where he is a senior partner in the Nexus arm of Lewis’s Tavistock Group investing in luxury real estate and hospitality. He is also a senior advisor to New York-based private equity firm One Equity Partners.Lewis is an 87-year-old Londoner, born above an East End pub who built a fortune estimated by Forbes at more than £5billion. He transferred his stake in Tavistock, which includes Spurs' parent company ENIC, to the Lewis family trust in 2022, before he was charged with insider trading in 2023.The transfer of assets brought his children Vivienne and Charles and their roles in the family affairs into focus and seems to have rekindled their interest in the football club.Vivienne has often been seen as the natural heir to the empire. At 62, she is known for being a little more businesslike than here brother. She is divorced from Toby Silverton, the former chairman of Bristol Cars once owned by Tavistock, and has reverted to using her family surname.She is also a former partner of Craig Johnston, who played for Liverpool and Middlesbrough, co-wrote the Anfield Rap and designed the extremely successful adidas Predator football boots.Vivienne's presence at Tottenham has been noticed to increase in recent months. Those who have met her describe her as approachable, sometimes with an edge, but certainly not ‘behaving as though her Dad owns the club’.She has always been the most visible of the family. And was seen sitting beside Levy on the front row of the directors’ box as Thomas Frank’s team started the Premier League campaign by beating Burnley 3-0.Vivienne is a senior managing director of Tavistock. She sits on the board and chairs the two golf and country club estates in Florida. She works closely with her father to manage and maintain the family’s billion-dollar art collection, thought to include original works by Picasso, Matisse and Bacon, some of which are said to adorn the lower decks of his yacht Aviva.Charles Lewis, 61, having worked on dozens of Tavistock’s restaurant projects and been heavily involved in South and Central America, has most recently led the billion-dollar transformation of Fort Lauderdale’s Pier Sixty-Six resort.He has always been more remote from London but like his sister claims to have become passionate about Spurs since their father first invested in football in the late 90s.Another member of the family expected to engage more with the club is Nick Beucher, who married Vivienne’s daughter Joanna.Beucher is a co-CEO of Tavistock and has an MBA and Master’s degree in sports business management from the University of Central Florida.There are no plans for the family members to take on formal roles at the club but the last 24 hours have made it clear they represent the new force inside Spurs.Levy’s son Josh is set to continue his role within the executive tier of Tavistock but is not expected to be involved at the club in the immediate future.
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