Borussia Dortmund CEO Shuns Investors After Posting Record Income

Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke's message for institutional investors after Germany’s only listed football team posted the biggest profit in its history was "don’t buy our shares," according to Alex Duff of BLOOMBERG. Watzke said that "he doesn’t want shareholders disrupting his club," which announced record annual net income of €34.3M ($43.7M) on Aug. 28 after winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles. That’s a bigger profit than Real Madrid, which calls itself "the world’s biggest sports team by sales." Watzke said that most shareholders "are fans with an emotional tie" to Borussia. Investment firm Silvia Quandt & Cie analyst Klaus Kraenzle said that institutional investors could "pressure the club to increase profit at the expense of sporting success." The combined stake of money managers rose to 14.2% from 6.5% since Aug. 26. Watzke: “We would not like to have them. It’s very important that I am free to make decisions." The biggest shareholder is a "crazy" fan of the team, Bernd Geske. Geske, a board member, holds 11.6% (BLOOMBERG, 11/13).