On October 31, 2000, BVB stock was traded for the first time on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange—the initial public offering price was 11 euros. That was exactly 25 years ago to the day. Do you remember?
In the late 1990s, Borussia Dortmund was among Europe’s elite: In 1997, the club celebrated winning the Champions League—the greatest achievement in the club’s history. In the two years prior, Dortmund had won the German championship twice in a row.
But success came at a price. Despite heavy investments in high-profile players like Thomas Häßler and Fredi Bobic, the hoped-for continuation of the success story failed to materialize. Expectations on the field grew, as did the mountain of debt.
A quarter-century ago, on October 31, 2000, Borussia Dortmund—under the leadership of CEO Dr. Gerd Niebaum and manager Michael Meier—therefore took a step that was unprecedented in Germany at the time: For an issue price of eleven euros, investors could immediately secure one of the 13.5 million shares that the club—now the publicly traded Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA—was offering on the market. The result: a windfall of 130 million euros—fresh equity capital that was primarily invested in new players.
For a then-record sum of 25.5 million euros, for example, Brazilian Marcio Amoroso joined BVB in 2001, and sums in the tens of millions were also spent on Jan Koller and Tomas Rosicky. “If you want to compete with FC Bayern, you have to do it with FC Bayern’s resources, not those of VfL Bochum,” manager Meier proclaimed.
Although the championship was celebrated once again at Borsigplatz in 2002, the flip side of the coin was debt running into the millions. Despite the championship, the stock price had also fallen by nearly half.
Watzke and Co. Prevent the Collapse
When the team’s performance subsequently began to decline and two journalists exposed the dramatic situation around Christmas 2003, the situation spiraled out of control—suddenly, there was talk of a crisis threatening the club’s very existence. Stadium shares were sold, and players were forced to take pay cuts. Debts in the hundreds of millions were the bitter reality.
To save the storied club from impending bankruptcy, Hans-Joachim Watzke took the helm at BVB in 2005. Instead of mega-transfers, realism and a mid-table Bundesliga finish were now the order of the day. Many investors lost confidence and panicked, selling off their shares—the stock price fell to just under two euros.
But Watzke and his team prevented the collapse. In 2008, Jürgen Klopp was hired—a turning point. Although the stock price initially plummeted to a record low of around 80 cents under his leadership, the on-field successes of a young, hungry team brought fresh money into the black-and-yellow coffers. The stock also rebounded.
What is arguably the darkest chapter in BVB’s history was also directly linked to its stock market listing: In 2017, an explosive attack was carried out on the team bus—out of greed. The perpetrator had speculated on a plunge in BVB’s stock price and hoped to make substantial profits as a result. BVB defender Marc Barta and a police officer were injured—the suspect was sentenced to 14 years in prison for 28 counts of attempted murder.
In June, the stock price stood at approximately 3.80 euros. That represents an increase of just under 15 percent over the past six months—so things are looking up for BVB. On October 31, however, the price had fallen to just 3.44 euros.