Sunrisers Hyderabad to Real Madrid, tycoons who head the franchises

Sunrisers Hyderabad and Real Madrid took home the silverware this weekend. Meet the tycoons behind the champions.

-Florentino Perez, Real Madrid: The 69-year-old real estate billionaire is liked and disliked in equal measure. There is general agreement that he made the club financially successful. He was also instrumental in building the team of Galacticos. But Perez is also criticised for interfering in the footballing aspect of running the team and hiring and firing managers at will. And though he is the club's elected president, he has introduced rules in the election process which make it hard for anyone to challenge him. The stands have booed him, and former managers, like Rafa Benitez, have criticised him for always being around. For now, he's revelling in the team's 11th Champions League title.



Florentino Perez (Image: AFP)


-Kalanithi Maran, Sunrisers Hyderabad: When the previous owners of the IPL Hyderabad franchise defaulted on payments, Kalanithi Maran's media company bought the majority stake in the team for Rs 425 crore in 2012. It wasn't all smooth sailing, as the franchise made bigger losses than expected. In fact, last year, the company's CFO SL Narayanan admitted they were willing to sell off their stake in the team. On Sunday, however, the dream came true, at least in terms of the team's performance. And perhaps they will have a better chance of monetising the brand, which they struggled with so far.



Kalanithi Maran (Image: BCCL)


Maran, 51, isn't known to be a diehard cricket fan. But he has done his bit by cheering for the team with his wife Kaveri and their daughter Kaviya. The family is private, but is known to enjoy overseas holidays.