From brink of bankruptcy to one of Europe’s top football teams

HIS background as a shrewd and successful businessman helped Borussia Dortmund – one of the largest and most successful football teams in Germany – bounce back from the brink of bankruptcy to a solvent club.

It was back in 2005 when Hans-Joachim Watzke – then the founder of safety clothing manufacturer Watex – was appointed as the club’s chief executive officer.

With debts of US$154 million to tackle, Watzke came within days of declaring Dortmund bankrupt, an outcome that would have seen them drop out of the Bundesliga (Germany’s top football league) and into the abyss of the amateur divisions.