Lord Sugar took over the north London club after a lengthy bidding war with media baron Robert Maxwell. Alongside the team's manager Terry Venables, he gained control of Tottenham in June 1991. Lord Sugar's time at the club was full of controversy, most notably, a public falling out with Venables in 1993, as well as star player Teddy Sheringham citing the chairman as the reason he left the club in 1997. In February 2001, Lord Sugar stepped down as chairman and sold his majority stake to current owners ENIC. In 2007, he sold his remaining shares, later describing his time at Tottenham as "a waste of my life".