The tentacles of Tether, the issuing company of the largest stablecoin in the market (USDT) they seek to monopolize everything. The company, led by Italian Paolo Ardoino, has also infiltrated sports and its CEO’s love for his native country (and for his childhood team) is evident: he already controls 11.5% of Juventus but wants more. Last Friday he presented to Exor, the financial group that controls the black and white club, a proposal to purchase his Juve shares, 65.4% of the total and in cash, according to the report. But John Elkann, executive director of the group, rejected the offer: the Agnelli family is not willing to get rid of the club, which skyrocketed 1,817% on the Milan Stock Exchange this Monday.
Ardoino confirmed his intentions in a post on X this weekend. “Today Tether sent an official proposal to Exor to buy its entire stake in Juventus. From the beginning, our goal has been to support the team and return it to the glory it deserves. As part of our commitment, if this transaction is completed, Tether will invest 1 billion euros in the club,” he announced.
The cryptocurrency company offered the Agnelli family 2.66 euros per share, according to Bloomberg, valuing Juventus at approximately 1.1 billion euros, according to the letter sent to Exor. However, in a brief statement they announced that the Board of Directors unanimously rejected the purchase offer, making it clear that the team is not for sale. “Juventus is a historic and successful club, of which Exor and the Agnelli family have been stable and proud shareholders for more than a century, and remain fully committed to the club, supporting its new management team in the execution of a clear strategy to deliver solid results both on and off the field,” the statement reads.
In his letter to explain the operation, Ardoino explained that he has always been a fan of the team. “Juventus has always been part of my life. I grew up with this team. As a child, I learned what commitment, resilience and responsibility meant by seeing Juventus face success and adversity with dignity,” he explained. In recent years, the team has failed to regain the dominance it showed during its streak of nine consecutive Serie A titles, which ended in 2021, when it placed fourth. He has also experienced setbacks off the field. In 2023, the Italian football federation took 10 points off its Serie A ranking after an investigation into the accounting of player transfers, Bloomberg recalls.
For this reason, Ardoino says that he wants to return the team “to glory”: this season is not being satisfactory for the club, which is in fifth position in Serie A, behind Milan, Naples, Inter, Rome and on par with Bologna. Furthermore, as Bloomberg explains, the costs of staying competitive in the top flight of European football are skyrocketing and there is a risk of missing out on European competition, jeopardizing crucial commercial and broadcast revenues. Its shares fall more than 13% in the year.
Added to this are also the difficulties of the Agnelli empire, which is also part of the shareholders of Ferrari and Stellantis through Exor: although they have controlled the team for more than a century, the family is facing a period of restructuring its portfolio and considering possible sales, such as that of the media group Gedi Gruppo Editoriale SpA, which is now being negotiated.
Tether, based in El Salvador, is the company that issues the stablecoin most successful: in a constantly growing market (already worth about $309 billion), USDT represents more than 60% and today reaches a capitalization of more than $186 billion, becoming the third largest cryptocurrency on the market. Despite its size, the doubts of regulators and some financial entities about the stability of this asset remain unresolved. Last month, the credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings its ability to maintain parity with the US dollar, the currency to which it is pegged. The entity warned that the review is due to the increase in exposure to high-risk assets in the cryptocurrency reserves over the last year, as well as persistent gaps in the disclosure of information by the issuer.
However, it is undeniable that in the crypto sector Ardoino’s company is a giant. Last August, Tether Ventures, the firm’s investment arm, acquired a minority stake in . And in recent months it has strengthened its relationship with the US administration, where it plans to land with a local stable currency that complies with the crypto regulations promulgated by Donald Trump. But the company is accelerating investments across sectors, from artificial intelligence to agriculture and commodities, in a bid to diversify its businesses beyond digital assets.
