Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA
- ISIN DE0005493092
- Country Deutschland
Company profile
The Company can be traced back to the Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, which was founded on 19 December 1909. With the resolutions of the members meeting of Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund on 28 November 1999 and 26 February 2000, all of the existing economic business operations subject to taxation of the professional football club were spun off and incorporated into the newly founded company, Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA. In October 2000, Borussia Dortmund became the first football club in German to go public at the stock exchange, and today it is listed in the Prime Standard and in the S-DAX selection index. The legal structure was Borussia Dortmund was designed to ensure a tight legal connection remained between the club and the Company – also in a legal sense. Management and representation of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA are incumbent upon the general partner, Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH. The GmbH is, in turn, presented by the managing directors Hans-Joachim Watzke, Thomas Treß and Carsten Cramer; its sole partner is BV. Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, which is represented by its management board consisting of the president Dr. Reinhold Lunow, his proxy Silke Seidel, and the treasurer Bernd Möllmann. The following graphic depicts the structures and responsibilities among BV. Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA, and Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH.
The rights and duties of the supervisory board of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA elected by the annual general meeting are limited. In particular, it does not have HR responsibility, i.e. the responsibility for appointing and dismissing managing directors at Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH and regulating their contractual provisions. The Supervisory Board is not entitled, either, to adopt Rules of Procedure or a catalogue of transactions requiring agreement for the General Partner. Rather, the committees at Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH are responsible for such rights and duties, namely the subcommittee there and the Executive Committee that it in turn forms.
Management
Hans-Joachim Watzke, born on 21 June 1959 in Marsberg (North Rhine Westphalia) was appointed as the managing director of Borussia Geschäftsführungs-GmbH by the presidential committee of the advisory board of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs- GmbH on 15 February 2005 at the climax of the existential crisis of Borussia Dortmund. Hans-Joachim Watzke has sole powers of representation and is exempted from the limitations of section 181 of the German Civil Code [BGB]. The business graduate [Diplom-Kaufmann], who grew up as a fan of Borussia Dortmund, is also the sole owner of Watex-Schutz-Bekleidungs-GmbH, a prominent manufacturer of protective clothing for workers and fire departments located in the Sauerland. Hans-Joachim Watzke has been a member of BV. Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund since 1996. From 1 July 2005 until 31 December 2005 he acted as the sole managing director of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH. He has been the chairman of the management since 1 January 2006.
Thomas Tress, born on 31 January 1966 in Riedlingen (Baden-Württemberg), was appointed as the second managing director by 11 October 2005 by the presidential committee of the advisory board of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH. Since 1 January 2006, Thomas Tress has been responsible for “finances”, “organisation”, “legal” & “IT” and like Hans-Joachim Watzke he has sole powers of representation and is exempted from the limitations of section 181 BGB. Thomas Tress, educated as a tax advisor, auditor, and business graduate [Diplom-Kaufmann], was a partner with general powers of representation in the auditing firm “RölfsPartner” before becoming a manager in Dortmund and was a key figure responsible in the restructuring of the Borussia Dortmund Group in the scope of this work.
Carsten Cramer, born on December 23, 1968 in Münster, began his professional career as Managing Director and Head of Marketing at the traditional football club “Preußen Münster”. He then moved to sports rights marketing agency “Ufa” (later “Sportfive”). There Cramer was first as a Sportfive team leader at Hamburger SV and from 2002 to 2007, finally in the same capacity, at BVB. From 2007 to 2010, Cramer was responsible for the nationwide marketing and sales business as Senior Vice-President at Sportfive headquarter in Hamburg, before joining Borussia Dortmund on October 1, 2010 as Director of Sales & Marketing. For some years, the digitization and internationalization strategy has also been a major focus of his work. His other functions at BVB include the co-management of BVB Merchandising GmbH as well as the board activity in the BVB Foundation “Leuchte Auf”. As of March 1, 2018, Carsten Cramer was appointed as managing director of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH; he has joint representative authority with another managing director and is exempted from the restrictions of § 181 BGB.