HORIZONT magazine, a specialised publication for marketing, advertising and media, tonight presented BVB Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Watzke with the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award for the marketing category at a ceremony in Frankfurt am Main.

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"Hans-Joachim Watzke has made a decisive contribution to transforming a crisis-hit company into Germany's second-strongest football brand," reads the certificate that Watzke picked up at the "Alte Oper" in Frankfurt this evening. "The jury were impressed with the persistence, creativity and courage that Watzke has shown to reshape Borussia Dortmund since 2006, culminating in record turnover figures last season. Even after a ten-year spell in his managerial position, the entrepreneur's ambition remains undiminished. The aim is to transform what is currently the world's fourth-biggest club into its second-biggest."

The laudation was held by Tina Müller, CMO & Member of the Management Board at the Opel Group. In his acceptance speech, Hans-Joachim Watzke dedicated the award to all employees of Borussia Dortmund.

"Watzke cleaned up Borussia Dortmund and made it into a top brand enjoying sporting and economic success. There is currently room for improvement in the table, but they are in a better economic position than ever before. For his achievements, HORIZONT is therefore awarding him the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award for the marketing category,"  the magazine had reported earlier.

Watzke was the "Player of the Year" at the 2011 HORIZONT Sports Business Awards. By winning the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award, he is following in the famous footsteps of Jochen Zeitz (Puma, 2003), Herbert Hainer (adidas, 2005), Martin Winterkorn (Volkswagen, 2009), Karl-Thomas Neumann and Tina Müller (Opel, 2015), who held today's laudation. (br)