German billionaire heir Max Viessmann buys $281 million stake in Bayern Munich Meta

German billionaire heir Max Viessmann's family investment company is buying a stake of about 6.7% in Bayern Munich, the country's most successful football club, adding one of Germany's richest industrial dynasties to the club's short list of outside owners.

Viessmann Generations Group, the Munich-based family investment company Viessmann runs, is paying a reported €250 million ($281 million) for the shares, the last block the club had made available to outside investors. Bayern did not disclose the price. The figure implies a value of about €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion) for FC Bayern München AG, the company that runs the club's professional football business, a record for a German club.

The shares are being issued through a capital increase, so the money goes to Bayern rather than to existing shareholders. The club offered a 5% block, but because new shares are being created, the stake works out at just under 6.7% once the deal is entered in the commercial register.

Viessmann said on Thursday that the family wants "to bring not only capital but also our entrepreneurial experience to the partnership." He described Bayern as "one of Europe's most successful clubs, with clear values and a strong sense of social responsibility."

Viessmann will join the supervisory board of FC Bayern München AG, which will expand from nine to ten members. He already sits on the club's administrative advisory board. The supervisory board is chaired by club president Herbert Hainer and includes former club bosses Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Joining Adidas, Allianz and Audi

The Viessmann group becomes the fourth minority shareholder in Bayern, alongside sportswear maker Adidas, insurer Allianz and carmaker Audi. Each of the three held 8.33% of the company and will see its stake diluted to just under 7.8%. Together the four investors will own 30%.

FC Bayern München eV, the members' association that owns the club, will hold 70%, down from 75%. The club's statutes do not allow it to fall below 70%. A 2021 proposal to lock the club's holding at 75% failed to win a majority at the annual meeting, which left Bayern free to sell the remaining shares without a vote by members. German football's ownership rules require clubs to keep majority control in the hands of their members.

Hainer said the deal "strengthens the ownership structure of FC Bayern München AG" and that the Viessmann group "stands for values such as tradition, ambition and innovation, just like FC Bayern."

"Furthermore, a substantially improved equity base further increases our scope for action at a time of constant change," he said.

The price marks a sharp rise from 2014, when Allianz paid €110 million ($124 million) for its stake at a valuation of about €1.3 billion. Bayern, 33-time German champion and six-time European champion, reported record revenue of €978 million ($1.1 billion) in the 2024-25 season.

A fortune from heating systems

The Viessmann family's wealth comes from Viessmann, the heating equipment maker Johann Viessmann founded in 1917. Max Viessmann, the fourth generation to run the business, and his father Martin Viessmann sold the company's main division, Viessmann Climate Solutions, to US-based Carrier Global Corp. for about €12 billion in a deal that closed in January 2024. The family is worth about $17.5 billion.

The family kept the rest of the business, now called Viessmann Generations Group, which has annual sales of about €1 billion and has been investing in energy infrastructure, among other holdings.

The group has sponsored Bayern since 2018 and has backed winter sports athletes and federations for more than three decades.

Viessmann said the family wants to support Bayern "as a club with its own identity, economically independent and sustainably successful."