Paolo Arduino, the CEO of Tether, has announced that Tether is now officially represented on the Juventus Football Club S.p.A. board of directors, with Dr. Francesco Garino emerging as its representative.
Arduino made this known in a post written in Italian on X. The post is translated as “Tether has just received its first seat on the Juventus Board of Directors… Francesco Garino confirmed!” He added, “Thanks to all minority shareholders for supporting our request to be involved. The first necessary step toward MJGA!”
Garino is said to be a longtime Juventus supporter who was born, raised, and lives in Turin, the city where the football club is based. Upon nomination, Garino, who’s also a seasoned orthodontist renowned in Italy and around the world, is expected to join the club board as a direct voice for the fans.
Tether’s investments in Juventus
Tether via Tether Investments first acquired a minority stake in Juventus in February this year. Tether said in its announcement, “While blockchain technology has featured prominently in professional sports with a view to enhancing the fan experience, Tether’s acquisition of a minority ownership stake in Juve is looking forward to delivering a sports-digital asset synergy at a new level.”
In April, the issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, bought more Juventus shares, bringing its stake in the football club to 10.12% of the total participation. It also raised its voting rights from over 5% to 6.18%.
It’s currently the second largest shareholder in Juventus, but it still trails the largest and controlling shareholder, the Agnelli family, by a very large margin. The Agnelli family, via it’s holding company, Exor, owns around 65% of Juventus shares and has been leading the club for over a century, and so far, seems unwilling to part with its shares currently, as Exor’s CEO John Elkann stated that they have no intentions to sell.
When asked if Tether wants to later own Juventus wholly, Ardoino, who is also a club supporter, reportedly stated that “You can buy only what someone wants to sell,” to which Elkann’s recent comments have confirmed.
However, Elkann mentioned that they are “open to constructive ideas from all stakeholders who share our ambition and passion for the club,” which some analysts believe is them giving a green light to a possible collaboration with Tether.
One nomination approved, one more to go
Last month, Tether announced that it had submitted two candidates for consideration to join the board of directors of Juventus Football Club. The first nominee was Dr. Francesco Garino, and now his nomination has been accepted.
The second candidate was Zachary Lyons, Tether’s Deputy Chief Investment Officer, who, according to Tether, was nominated to join the club to “support the financial and strategic development of the Club alongside Francesco.”
Lyon’s is yet to be confirmed, but that may happen later in the future.
The investment in Juventus ties into Tether’s goal of integrating digital assets and payments and its “newly acquired AI and biotech expertise into the sports industry.” Last year, Tether announced it planned on investing $1 billion in AI, financial infrastructure, and biotechnology, and this came after it invested $200 million in biotech firm Blackrock Neurotech, securing a majority stake.