I am not a huge football (soccer) fan but I do follow Liverpool.
Now I find out that Jeff Bezos is included as part of the group buying the club.
There is no doubt that Amazon has become a huge success but since Bezos is a supporter of Trump and having seen what has happened to another of his properties- The Washington Post – I despair.
I so dislike the American culture that permits these billionaires to accumulate so much power. I prefer the German model of ownership.
Nearly all German clubs operate under the 50+1 rule, meaning the club (as a members’ association, or Verein) must hold majority voting control even if a company runs the football operations — with a handful of grandfathered exceptions.
| Club | Ownership |
|---|---|
| Bayern Munich | FC Bayern München e.V. (members’ association) holds ~75%; Adidas, Audi, and Allianz each hold ~8.33% of FC Bayern München AG |
| Borussia Dortmund | Publicly listed on the stock exchange (Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA); Borussia Dortmund e.V. holds a blocking minority (~5–6%) to preserve 50+1 |
| RB Leipzig | Effectively owned/controlled by Red Bull GmbH, via a members’ structure with a restricted, mostly Red Bull-employee membership base — an exception that has drawn repeated 50+1 challenges |
| VfB Stuttgart | VfB Stuttgart 1893 e.V. is majority owner of VfB Stuttgart AG; Mercedes-Benz and Porsche hold minority stakes |
| Bayer Leverkusen | Wholly owned by Bayer AG (the pharmaceutical/chemical company) — one of the original 50+1 exceptions, since Bayer founded the club as a works team over 20 years before the rule existed |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | Eintracht Frankfurt Fußball AG, majority-owned by the members’ association (e.V.) |
| TSG Hoffenheim | Majority-owned by billionaire Dietmar Hopp (SAP co-founder), an exception granted for long-term (20+ years) investment; Hopp has been transferring shares back toward the members’ association in recent years |
| SC Freiburg | SC Freiburg e.V., traditional members’ association, no outside investor |
| Mainz 05 | 1. FSV Mainz 05 e.V., traditional members’ association |
| Union Berlin | 1. FC Union Berlin e.V., traditional members’ association, fan-funded stadium |
| Werder Bremen | SV Werder Bremen von 1899 e.V.; football operations run through a subsidiary but majority stays with the association |
| FC Augsburg | FC Augsburg 1907 GmbH & Co. KGaA; investors including Detlef Bierbaum/Klaus Hofmann hold significant minority stakes alongside the e.V. |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach e.V., traditional members’ association |
| VfL Bochum | VfL Bochum 1848 e.V., traditional members’ association |
| Hamburger SV | Hamburger SV Fußball AG, majority held by the e.V.; various minority investors hold shares (including Klaus-Michael Kühne, the logistics billionaire, historically a major HSV backer) |
| Schalke 04 | FC Schalke 04 e.V., traditional members’ association (has faced financial strain in recent years) |
| SV Elversberg | SV 07 Elversberg e.V., closely tied to and financially backed by the SHW/Ottweiler-based industrialist Jürgen Wechsler family interests locally, though structured as a members’ association |
| SC Paderborn | SC Paderborn 07 e.V., traditional members’ association |
A few notes worth flagging:
- Leverkusen and Hoffenheim are the two clearest exceptions to 50+1 (Bayer’s works-team history, and Hopp’s grandfathered long-term investment).
- RB Leipzig doesn’t technically violate the letter of 50+1, but its restrictive membership model (largely Red Bull employees) has been the subject of ongoing controversy and legal challenges since it effectively concentrates control with Red Bull.
- Dortmund is the only Bundesliga club publicly traded on a stock exchange.
Given how fast-moving investor stakes can be (Hopp’s ongoing share transfers, HSV’s investor situation, etc.), if you want the most current shareholding percentages for any specific club, I’m happy to dig into that one in more detail.
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