FILE PHOTO: Enrique Riquelme presents the first challenge to Florentino Perez’s Real Madrid presidency. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Renewables tycoon Enrique Riquelme confirmed on Saturday ​that he would be running for ‌the presidency of Real Madrid, ​presenting the first challenge ⁠in more than two decades to Florentino Perez’s hold on the world’s richest football club.

On May 12, Perez, 79, called new elections ‌despite having two years ‌left ⁠on his mandate. It followed ⁠a second successive season without silverware for the record 15-times European champion. Real’s ​arch-rival Barcelona retained ‌the La Liga title.

Riquelme founded Cox Energy in 2014 to specialise in solar power in Europe and ‌Latin America, winning significant projects ​in Chile, Mexico, and Spain. The company manages more ⁠than 1.2 gigawatts of energy projects in Spain through Ibox Energy.

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One ‌of Cox’s largest operations was the acquisition in 2025 of Iberdrola’s assets in Mexico for $4.2 billion including debt.

In his May 13 open letter to Perez, ‌who is an infrastructure development mogul and ​CEO of civil engineering ACS Group, Riquelme said the ⁠club needed to have a more ⁠democratic electoral process and that the best institutions were those ‌that combined “experience and renewal, past and future”.

Published on May 23, 2026