24th November 2025
November 24 – Florentino Pérez has never been shy about steering Real Madrid exactly the way he thinks it should be run, and on Sunday he revealed a plan to change Madrid’s ownership model and allow outside investment for the first time in its history.
The 78-year-old’s plan is to form a subsidiary that would allow external investors to buy a stake of about 5%. The plan would have to be voted on at an extraordinary general meeting sometime in the future. Real Madrid is valued at about $6.5 billion.
Madrid has always been owned by its socios, a structure that goes back to 1902. Pérez first floated the idea of a “referendum” last year, hinting that the club needed to explore new financial mechanisms. Nothing concrete followed until now. After a year of internal study, club officials arrived at a proposal that keeps socios in control but opens the door for a “minority shareholder” to join the existing 98,272 members.
Any move of this scale needs member approval, and Pérez said he’ll call an “extraordinary assembly” where roughly 2,000 compromisario socios will vote on whether to put the plan to a full referendum for all adult members.
“During these months we have reflected deeply on how to make visible the value of Real Madrid and the conclusion is clear,” Pérez said. “We will continue to be a members’ club, but we will make a subsidiary company in which the socios maintain control but with a minority shareholder with five per cent or so (of the shares).
“This way we can know what the club is worth. We do not want to float on the stock exchange. We will limit the share of investment so that the club remains in the hands of its socios. This investor or investors must share our values and help protect our assets against external attacks.
“Real Madrid will always have the right to take back the investment. Madrid must not depend on just some directors or one president, we do not want it to fall into the hands of anyone. This step will be decided freely by all members by referendum.”
Pérez says more details will come at the EGM, adding he wants to “avoid all the things in the papers these days.”
Rather than becoming an SAD like most Spanish clubs, Madrid is pursuing a hybrid system: each socio will hold one share with a monetary value, transferable only to children or grandchildren. Well-placed sources say investors would receive a dividend but no voting rights, while socios would retain all democratic control without taking home annual payouts.
It’s a model that tries to modernize Madrid without loosening Pérez’s grip. Even in opening the door to outside money, he’s making sure the club still revolves around the same centre of power, namely himself and the socios who keep electing him.
Contact the writer of this story at [moc.l1763981001labto1763981001ofdlr1763981001owedi1763981001sni@r1763981001etsbe1763981001w.kci1763981001n1763981001](javascript:;)