Tether Holdings’ bid to acquire Juventus Football Club pits a fast-growing cryptocurrency power against an Italian industrial dynasty with more than a century of history.
The crypto company’s all-cash proposal to buy Exor’s 65.4% stake for €2.66 per share values Juventus at around €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion), according to a letter sent to Exor and seen by Bloomberg on Saturday. The value represents a premium of around 21% to the closing price of Juventus shares in Milan on Friday.
Tether, best known for its USDT stablecoin, said it would inject an additional €1 billion to support the club’s development and pledged to buy out all remaining shareholders for a price “at least equal” to its offer, according to the letter.
Exor, the Agnelli family’s investment vehicle, quickly rejected this approach, signaling that it had no plans to sell its stake to Tether or any other interested party. The board “unanimously rejects” Tether’s proposal, the company said in a statement today.
“Juventus has been part of my family for 102 years,” said John Elkann, CEO of Exor, in a video released this Saturday. “For a century, four generations grew it, strengthened it, cared for it in difficult times and celebrated it in happy times.”
“Juventus – our history, our values – is not for sale,” said Elkann, grandson and designated heir of industrialist Gianni Agnelli.
Tether did not respond to requests for comment.
The proposal represents a bold move at a sensitive time for the Agnellis, who are reshaping their portfolio and evaluating divestments, including a possible sale of media group Gedi Gruppo Editoriale. The family has controlled Juventus for over a century.
It comes at a time when Juventus are facing difficulties on the pitch and seeing costs rising to remain competitive at the highest level of European football. The Turin club, currently seventh in Serie A, risks being excluded from European competition, which would threaten crucial audiovisual and commercial revenues.
The team was unable to regain the dominance displayed during their run of nine consecutive Serie A titles, which ended in 2021, when they finished fourth in Italian football’s top league. He also suffered setbacks off the field. In 2023, the club lost 10 points in the Serie A standings following a decision by the Italian football federation, following an investigation into how it accounted for player transfers. Its shares are down 27% this year.
Tether, currently the club’s second largest shareholder, with an 11.5% stake accumulated since February, is pushing to acquire full control.
For the company’s CEO, Italian Paolo Ardoino, the offer has a personal character.
“For me, Juventus has always been part of my life,” Ardoino said in a statement. “I grew up with this team.”
But relations between shareholders are tense. Communication has been “very, very limited,” he said in a June interview.
The contrast between the two parties could hardly be greater. Through Exor – one of Europe’s largest holding companies, with a net asset value of €36.4 billion – the Agnellis control major assets, such as Ferrari, Stellantis and luxury brand Christian Louboutin.
Juventus, while iconic, represents only a small fraction of Exor’s value.
Tether, on the other hand, is a symbol of new money. Founded in 2014, the company operated for years without public functions before establishing its official headquarters in El Salvador in January. The company does not have an independent board of directors and discloses little about its structure.
Yet, it has become one of the most profitable companies in the cryptocurrency industry.
USDT is the world’s most widely used stablecoin, backed by a portfolio of assets of $181 billion – including $135 billion in US Treasuries – according to a certification report available on its website. Profit exceeded $10 billion in the first nine months of 2025, according to the document.
The company has accelerated its investments in several sectors, from artificial intelligence to agriculture, seeking to diversify beyond digital assets.
For the Agnellis, Juventus is less a financial asset than a symbol: a club closely linked to family identity for more than a century.
While Tether makes a value-based argument, with immediate capital on the table, Exor signals that tradition is worth more than any price.
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