Who Owns Real Madrid? How the Socio Model Works
No billionaire, no fund, no shareholders. Real Madrid belongs to its socios. Who they are, what they vote on, how a president gets elected, and the 5% stake plan that could change it.
Nobody owns Real Madrid in the way a person or a fund owns a Premier League club: it belongs to its members, the socios, of whom there were 98,272 in November 2025. The club is a non-profit sports association. It has no shares, no shareholders and no owner, and its president is elected by the members.
That structure goes back to the club's foundation in 1902, and it is rarer than it sounds. Spanish law has required almost every professional club to become a company since 1990. Real Madrid is one of four that did not have to, and a plan announced in November 2025 would change the model for the first time.
The short version
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Legal form | Non-profit sports association (club deportivo), not a company |
| Owned by | Its members, the socios: 98,272 in November 2025 |
| Shares on sale | None |
| Who runs it | A president and board elected by the members |
| President | Florentino Pérez, re-elected on 7 June 2026 |
| Main decision body | General Assembly of about 2,000 elected representative members |
| Can it pay dividends? | No; the law forbids distributing profits |
| Pending change | A subsidiary with a minority outside investor, about 5% |
How the socio model works
A socio is a paying member of the club. Collectively, the socios are its owners, and they hold its voting rights.
Membership is closed to most people. New memberships have for years been reserved mainly for the children and grandchildren of existing members, and Pérez speaks of the club's "100,000 socios". Florentino Pérez's reform proposal would also fix the number of members for the future.
The members exercise their ownership in two ways.
They elect the president and board. Every four years, or earlier if the president calls an election, the members vote on lists of candidates. The winning list governs the club.
They elect the assembly. Ordinary members choose representative members, the compromisarios, who sit in the General Assembly. There are roughly 2,000 of them, and the current group serves a fixed term from 4 October 2024 to 4 October 2028.
What the assembly decides
The General Assembly is the club's parliament. It meets once a year in ordinary session and votes on the board's management, the accounts, the budget and membership fees.
At the 2025 ordinary assembly, held on 23 November at Real Madrid City, the representatives approved:
| Item | Votes cast | In favour | Share in favour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounts for 2024-25 | 1,744 | 1,734 | 99.4% |
| Budget for 2025-26 | 1,741 | 1,728 | 99% |
| Membership fees for 2026-27 | 1,741 | 1,694 | 97.3% |
The board won every vote with more than 97% in favour. Formally the assembly holds a great deal of power; in practice, on these numbers, it rarely uses it against the board.
An extraordinary assembly is needed for bigger changes, such as reforming the club's statutes. Under the club's statutes, as summarised in a legal analysis published by Iusport, a simple majority of an extraordinary assembly is what puts a change of legal form to a referendum of members.
Why Real Madrid never became a company
The reason Real Madrid is still a members' club is a Spanish law, not just tradition.
The Ley del Deporte of 15 October 1990 created the sociedad anónima deportiva (SAD), a special form of limited company for professional sport, to bring control and transparency to clubs whose debts had grown after the 1982 World Cup. Almost every professional club was obliged to convert.
Four were exempted because their accounts were in good shape at the time: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Osasuna. They were allowed to keep operating as associations owned by their members. ESPN describes them as "one of just four Spanish clubs" that remain member-owned.
| Real Madrid (club) | A typical SAD | |
|---|---|---|
| Owned by | Members, one vote each | Shareholders, votes by shareholding |
| Can be bought | No | Yes, subject to approval rules |
| Governed by | President and board elected by members | Board of directors |
| Board guarantee | Board must guarantee 15% of the budget | Applies only to clubs that did not convert |
The last row is the price of staying a club. Because there are no shareholders to absorb losses, the board of a member-owned professional club must personally guarantee part of the budget. Spain's Supreme Court confirmed in a ruling of 13 March 2018 that this guarantee, covering 15% of the last budget, comes from the rules governing professional football rather than from the club's own statutes, because board members of such clubs can be made to answer for losses during their mandate.
How a president is elected
The hard part of becoming president of Real Madrid is being allowed to stand.
When the 2026 election opened, the club's rules required every candidate to have been a member for 20 years and to provide a guarantee of €187 million, equivalent to 15% of the annual budget, backed by personal assets. The Supreme Court ruling above upheld the club's right to demand long membership from candidates, calling it a matter of the association's own organisation.
For two decades, no rival candidacy reached a vote. Pérez was elected unopposed in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025, according to ESPN; when no rival list is accepted, no vote is held.
The 2026 election
That changed in 2026. Pérez, 79, called an early election on 12 May after a season without a major trophy. Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old businessman, submitted a candidacy that the electoral board accepted, and the members voted for the first time in 20 years.
The official result, announced on 7 June 2026:
| Candidacy | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Florentino Pérez | 21,741 | 65% |
| Enrique Riquelme | 11,814 | 35% |
Turnout was 33,555 of the 75,214 members on the electoral roll, or 44.61%, according to the count reported by Mundo Deportivo. Pérez secured another four-year term.
Ownership was at the centre of the campaign. Riquelme made opposition to any sale of the club his "red line", and after conceding said: "We know that Real Madrid isn't for sale." Four days before the vote, on 3 June, Pérez signed a notarial deed promising that "mientras sea presidente del Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, me comprometo a que el club sea siempre de sus socios" (while I am president, I commit to the club always belonging to its members), El Español reported.
Pérez's plan to sell a minority stake
The reason ownership became an election issue is a proposal Pérez first floated in 2024 and set out a year later.
At the November 2024 assembly he said he would bring a "corporate reorganisation" to the members, citing the club's dispute with LaLiga over the CVC investment deal, under which other clubs received a total of €2 billion in exchange for future broadcast income. "Our club should have a structure which protects us as an institution," he told the representatives.
At the 2025 assembly he gave the outline. As reported by Inside World Football and El Español:
- A subsidiary. The club would create a new commercial company, not an SAD, controlled by the members.
- A minority investor. An outside investor would take "five per cent or so", and Pérez has said never more than 10%. "We do not want to float on the stock exchange," he said.
- A buy-back right. "Real Madrid will always have the right to take back the investment."
- One share per member. Each socio would hold one share with a monetary value, transferable only to children or grandchildren. Pérez said holding a membership card would no longer be only sentimental but would have a tangible, real value.
- No votes for the investor. Inside World Football's sources said the investor would have no voting rights, while members would keep democratic control. Reports differ on who would receive any payouts, so that detail awaits the final proposal.
The club already has some experience with outside capital in a narrower form. It sold 20% of future profits from the rebuilt Santiago Bernabéu to Sixth Street and Legends for €360 million, Goal reported, and in 2021 it set up Real Madrid Estadio SL, a company that manages stadium-related operations and which Goal described as the template for the new subsidiary.
What has to happen before it takes effect
The reform cannot be imposed by the board. Pérez has committed to two steps: an extraordinary assembly of representative members to explain and vote on the proposal, then a binding referendum of all adult members.
Neither had taken place by the time of the June 2026 election. The extraordinary assembly was expected in December 2025 and then in January 2026, but Bernabéu Digital reported on 21 January that it had not been held and that no new date had been announced. After his re-election, ESPN reported that Pérez still planned to oversee the change, subject to another members' vote.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1902 | Club founded as a members' association |
| 15 Oct 1990 | Ley del Deporte creates SADs; Real Madrid among four clubs exempted |
| 2000 | Florentino Pérez first elected president |
| 2006 | Pérez resigns |
| 2009 | Pérez returns as president |
| 13 Mar 2018 | Supreme Court largely upholds membership and guarantee rules for candidates |
| Nov 2024 | Pérez announces a "corporate reorganisation" will go to the members |
| 23 Nov 2025 | Pérez outlines the subsidiary and minority-investor plan |
| Jan 2026 | Planned extraordinary assembly not held |
| 12 May 2026 | Pérez calls an early presidential election |
| 3 Jun 2026 | Pérez signs a notarial pledge that the club will stay the members' |
| 7 Jun 2026 | Pérez beats Riquelme 65% to 35% in the first contested vote in 20 years |
What the model means in practice
For the members, ownership is real but indirect. They cannot sell their stake, receive a dividend or vote on a transfer. What they can do is remove a president at an election, and reject a board's accounts or statute changes through their representatives.
For the club, the model means no owner can inject money to cover losses, and none can extract it. Spending has to be funded from income, borrowing or deals like the Bernabéu arrangement, which is the gap the minority-stake plan is meant to fill. How clubs in England are held to account for losses under a very different ownership system is explained in PSR financial rules explained, and why profit on homegrown players matters so much to any club balancing its books is covered in why clubs sell academy players.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Real Madrid?
Its members, the socios. Real Madrid is a non-profit sports association, not a company, so there are no shares and no owner. The club had 98,272 members in November 2025, and they elect the president and board.
Is Florentino Pérez the owner of Real Madrid?
No. Pérez is the elected president, not an owner. He has held the post from 2000 to 2006 and since 2009, and was re-elected on 7 June 2026 with 21,741 votes (65%) against Enrique Riquelme's 11,814 (35%).
Why is Real Madrid not a company like other Spanish clubs?
Spain's sports law of 15 October 1990 forced most professional clubs to become sociedades anónimas deportivas (SADs), sporting limited companies. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Osasuna were exempted because their accounts were sound at the time, and they remained member-owned clubs.
Can you buy shares in Real Madrid?
No. The club has no shares to buy. Florentino Pérez proposed in November 2025 to create a subsidiary in which an outside investor could hold about 5%, never more than 10%, but that plan needs approval from the representative assembly and then a binding referendum of members.
Who can run for president of Real Madrid?
A candidate must have been a member for 20 years and present a guarantee worth 15% of the club's annual budget, about €187 million in 2026, backed by personal assets. The guarantee requirement comes from Spanish professional football rules for clubs that never became companies.
What do Real Madrid socios vote on?
All members vote in presidential elections. Day to day, around 2,000 elected representative members, the compromisarios, sit in the General Assembly, which approves the accounts, the budget and membership fees each year.
Do Real Madrid members get paid dividends?
No. As a non-profit association the club cannot distribute profits; its income is reinvested. Pérez's 2025 proposal would give each member one share with a monetary value, but how any returns would be shared has not been set out in a vote and reports differ.
