Here is all you need to know about Ajax football team CEO Alex Kroes
The supervisory board of Ajax, a Dutch team, has suspended CEO Alex Kroes due to claims of insider trading.
The club board claims in a statement that a week prior to the announcement of his appointment on August 2nd, Kroes purchased more than 17,000 club shares. The statement read:
External legal advice indicates that he likely engaged in insider trading.”
Meanwhile, Kroes informed the Dutch news media ANP that he intended to request a ruling on his purchases from the AFM, the country’s share trading watchdog.
Who is Alex Kroes as Ajax’s CEO is suspended on insider trading charges
Ajax have suspended new CEO Alex Kroes with immediate effect on “strong suspicion” of insider trading.
The club’s supervisory board say Kroes bought more than 17,000 Ajax shares a week before his intended appointment was announced on August 2 last year. pic.twitter.com/DpK5h1OcpD
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) April 2, 2024
Who is Alex Kroes?
Alex Kroes is a Dutch football executive and entrepreneur who was born on September 23, 1974 in Utrecht, Netherlands. At the moment, he serves as AFC Ajax’s CEO however, the club has suspended him as a suspect for Insider trading.
His prior positions included co-founding the Sports Entertainment Group agency, being a majority shareholder and director of Go Ahead Eagles, and serving as a director of AZ Alkmaar.
Growing up in Weesp, Kroes participated in youth sports for various national youth teams and all Ajax youth teams, although he was never selected for the first squad. In 1994, Kroes founded his own telemarketing business following the completion of his master’s programme in business economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
With the Sports Entertainment Group (SEG) agency, Kroes made his player agent debut in 2000. SEG went on to become the biggest football agency in the Netherlands and one of the best worldwide, representing players like Memphis Depay and Robin van Persie.
In early 2019, Kroes became a majority shareholder and co-director of Go Ahead Eagles, having sold SEG to a Dutch investment company in early 2018. Kroes became director of International Football Strategy at AZ on December 1, 2022.
Following Edwin van der Sar, Ajax announced on August 2, 2023, that Kroes will take over as CEO and chairman of the board. It was decided that Kroes could start working for Ajax on March 15, 2024 but he was suspended in “likely engaged in insider trading.”