Who is Enrique Riquelme, the businessman linked with a Real Madrid bid? | OneFootball

Florentino Pérez referenced an energy-sector businessman with a Latin American accent who seemed keen to run, later clarifying he was Mexican. The figure is Enrique Riquelme.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, Riquelme has long been viewed as a potential alternative at Real Madrid. Born in Cox, Alicante in 1989, he is a long-standing socio.

He is founder and executive chairman of Grupo Cox, focused on water and energy, especially renewables, desalination, reuse and treatment. The company listed in Spain in November 2024.

His career began abroad in Panama in 2010 with Grupo El Sol in mining, cement, infrastructure and energy, then renewables across Latin America. He created Cox Energy in 2014.

In 2023 a court awarded Abengoa assets to Cox Energy, putting Riquelme firmly in the national economic spotlight.

He emerged in 2021 as a potential presidential challenger and said he had more than 20 years’ membership, but he did not stand. Pérez was proclaimed without opposition.

Any bid must clear strict statutes, including 20 years of uninterrupted membership and a bank guarantee worth 15% of the club budget secured against personal assets. The guarantee was about 123.8 million euros in 2021, and estimates now put it above 170-180 million euros.

Riquelme has left the door open to a future run. Recent reports link him with assembling a team and exploring a bid, even with Rafa Nadal mentioned in his orbit, though nothing is official without a formal call and a registered ticket.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo