On October 31, 2000, BVB shares were traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the first time—the issue price was eleven euros. That was 25 years ago to the day. Do you remember?

At the end of the 1990s, Borussia Dortmund was one of Europe’s top clubs: in 1997, the club celebrated winning the Champions League – the greatest success in its history. In the two previous years, Dortmund had won the German championship twice in a row.

But success came at a price. Despite heavy investment in big-name players such as Thomas Häßler and Fredi Bobic, the hoped-for continuation of the success story failed to materialize. Sporting expectations grew, as did the mountain of debt.

A quarter of a century ago, on October 31, 2000, Borussia Dortmund, under the leadership of CEO Dr. Gerd Niebaum and manager Michael Meier, took a step that was unique in Germany at the time: For an issue price of eleven euros, investors could now secure one of the 13.5 million shares that the local club – now listed on the stock exchange as Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA – was putting on the market. The result: a windfall of 130 million euros – fresh equity capital that was primarily invested in new players.
In 2001, Brazilian Marcio Amoroso joined BVB for a then-record sum of 25.5 million euros, while Jan Koller and Tomas Rosicky also cost tens of millions. “If you want to compete with FC Bayern, you have to do it with FC Bayern’s resources, not VfL Bochum’s,” trumpeted manager Meier.

As a result, the championship was celebrated again at Borsigplatz in 2002 – but the flip side of the coin was millions in liabilities. Despite the championship, the share price had also fallen by almost half. Watzke and Co prevent collapse When the club’s sporting fortunes also took a downturn and two journalists revealed the dramatic situation at Christmas 2003, the situation escalated – suddenly there was talk of a situation that threatened the club’s existence. Stadium shares were sold and players’ salaries were cut. Debts in the hundreds of millions were the bitter reality. In order to save the traditional club from impending insolvency, Hans-Joachim Watzke took the helm at BVB in 2005. Instead of mega transfers, realism and Bundesliga mid-table finishes were now the order of the day. Many investors lost confidence and panicked, selling off their shares – the 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 share price initially plummeted to a record low of around 80 cents under his leadership, the sporting successes of a young, hungry team brought fresh money into the black and yellow coffers. The share price also rose again. The darkest chapter in BVB’s history was also directly related 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 fall in the BVB share price and hoped to make high 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 share price was around €3.80. This represents an increase of just under 15 percent over the last six months – so things are looking up for BVB. On October 31, however, the price was only €3.44.