Tether Want Juventus FC Board Seat

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Tether Become 2nd Largest Stakeholder at Juventus 🖤 

Stablecoin giant Tether has accumulated a 10.7% stake in Juventus FC worth €128 million ($149 million), making it the second-largest shareholder behind the Agnelli family's Exor holding company, which controls 65.4% of the Italian club.

Exor also own the majority voting rights position in Ferrari, and also have stakes in Phillips, Christian Louboutin and more. Juventus have been in the Agnelli family for over 100 years, and Exor, their holding corporation, is one of the biggest holding companies in the world with assets under management at the $40bn mark. Tether, on the other hand, boast $150bn worth of assets.

Despite Tether’s substantial investment, CEO Paolo Ardoino seemingly finds himself in an increasingly uncomfortable position.

Communication between Tether and Exor has been "very, very limited," (per Bloomberg) to the point that he has been ‘reduced’ to buying his own match tickets despite being the club's second-biggest financial backer.

He said:

Tether are seeking two things:

1. A board seat at Juventus Football Club

2. A desire to increase Tether’s stake in Juventus via a potential capital raise

Over recent months, the two sides have exchanged letters attempting to organise a meeting, but no date has been set. Juventus has proposed talks after the Club World Cup concludes in early July—effectively another delay tactic whilst they continue to freeze out an investor whose parent company generated $13 billion in profits last year.

According to a Bloomberg source familiar with the matter: “Exor plans to evaluate its position regarding Tether once the crypto firm and Juventus have convened”

The Story So Far 📖

For the uninitiated, Tether are the most profitable company on the planet per employee, with net profits of over $13bn in 2024.

They are behind USDT, the largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, with a market capitalisation exceeding $150 billion. Stablecoins have become the first example of product-market fit in crypto, with the supply of them recnetly reaching ~$250billion, up from ~$140 billion year-on-year.

Let’s quickly summarise the story so far:

• March 2025: Tether reportedly acquired more than 5% of Juventus, with regulator Consob being notified after they crossed the 5% regulatory threshold of Juventus’ voting rights.

• The Agnelli family's holding company Exor, which controls 64% of Juventus (and also owns Ferrari), has not sold any shares to Tether, and have consistently denied any plans to sell the club.

• Tether CEO Paulo Ardoino described the move as a "strategic investment" that will help Tether become a "pioneer in merging new technologies, such as digital assets, AI, and biotech, with the well-established sports industry to drive change globally”.

• April 2025: Tether acquired additional shares in Juventus Football Club, bringing its total participation to over 10.12 % of the issued share capital, representing 6.18% of voting rights. In the same announcement, it was clarified that the initial share acquisition was worth 8.2% rather than the ~5% initially reported.

• June 2025: Tether start using the press to pressure Exor to give them a board seat. They now have a 10.7% stake in Juventus.

Analysis & Concluding Thoughts 🧠

This story has escalated much faster than anyone could have anticipated.

The football industry has naively looked at Tether as a ‘crypto bro’ group without really understanding that this is one of the most powerful, well-capitalised and most important tech companies on the planet.

Circle, their main competitors, recently IPO’d and have seen a 700% increase in price, taking their market cap to over $40bn.

Recent analysis from Jon Ma, CEO of Artemis, has concluded that Tether would be valued at over $500bn if they hit the public markets today, making it worth more than Oracle and Costco as the world’s 19th most valuable company.

Tether CEO Ardoino said the valuation was “a bit bearish”.

So here we have:

1. One of the most valuable private businesses on the planet who are looking to diversify their portfolio of assets.

2. A team in Juventus who have struggled financially, in a league (Serie A) that struggles financially.

3. An ownership group that are resolute in holding their assets, but have recently sold positions in Ferrari (whilst remaining in control).

Let’s break down the analysis:

(1) This will reach a swift conclusion.

There are reports that after the Club World Cup this summer, Juventus and Tether will finally meet.

I expect there will be a swift resolution as to whether Tether will get a board seat and how much influence they can have on Juventus Football Club.

Exor don't want to sell; however, they are being hurt by European football’s financial woes, like most football owners.

If I had to guess, Exor will give Tether a board seat and let them inject capital into a team that needs it. The alternative is to continue haemorrhaging money from their own pockets.

(2) Tether have an extraordinarily strong position.

They do not have stakeholders they need to please, they have unlimited money, and their executives are Juventus fans - so there is an emotional attachment to this purchase.

They will keep knocking on the door until it opens ajar.

(3) This is no longer just PR.

Tether are pushing hard here.

At worst, strategically, Tether are being put in the headlines alongside one of the most storied Italian football clubs and one of the biggest European football clubs on the planet.

At best, they get a board seat at this prestigious sporting institution.

Previously, Tether CEO Ardoino has said, "we're fine to remain as minority investors", and now they are going on the offensive, trying to get a board seat.

(4) Exor recently sold $3.2 billion worth of Ferrari stake for M&A purposes.

They remain the largest shareholder and control the largest voting bloc. I'm not sure this is linked, but the timing is interesting.

(5) I can see something similar happening.

Exor might be willing to give up a larger share of Juventus in exchange for an inflated valuation, and I don't think Tether will care because of how well-capitalised they are.

On the other hand, the Agnelli family have been in control of Juventus for over 100 years - there may not be a price they are willing to sell a board seat to Tether for.

6) Tether are the first, but they won't be the last.

Tether might be the first crypto company taking a significant step into sports ownership, but they won’t be the last.

Sports is becoming an asset class, and sellers and brokers are looking at who has significant capital.

To give you another idea of just how vast the financial power some of these companies have…

Crypto company Ripple is rumoured to have offered $5-6bn to buy USDC stablecoin issuer Circle. Circle then went public, and are now valued at over $40bn.

This industry is mainstream now, and very much so in terms of capital and valuations.

(7) Crypto is fast becoming legitimate.

The U.S., Europe and U.K. will all have crypto asset regulation by 2026.

Crypto isn’t going away. It’s getting bigger and more legitimate, and starting to eat into the pie of mainstream products in every single industry.

Public blockchains are essentially 10 years old outside of Bitcoin. This is the beginning, not the end, after a few false starts.

Governments agree with that sentiment because they don’t regulate industries that will not have a large impact on consumers.

(8) At the same time football is hurting financially.

Italy has serious financial issues when it comes to football.

In 2023/24 only two teams in Serie A boasted positive balance sheets, Fiorentina and Monza.

Covid resulted in a league-wide $1.4 billion loss.

Many teams in Italy’s top flight do not own their stadiums, which puts more strain on finances and makes the asset itself worth less.

With broadcast rights in European soccer also struggling, Ligue 1 in France, in particular, being the canary in the coalmine, many are asking the question “where does the appreciation of the asset come from?”.

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