MADRID, May 23 (Reuters) - ⁠Renewables tycoon Enrique Riquelme confirmed on Saturday ⁠that he would be running for the ‌presidency of Real Madrid, presenting the first challenge in more than two decades to Florentino Perez's hold on the world's ​richest soccer club.

On May 12, ⁠Perez, 79, called new ⁠elections despite having two years left on his mandate. ⁠It ‌followed a second successive season without silverware for the record 15-times European champions. ⁠Real's arch-rivals Barcelona retained the LaLiga title.

Riquelme ​founded Cox ‌Energy in 2014 to specialise in solar ⁠power in ​Europe and Latin America, winning significant projects in Chile, Mexico, and Spain. The company manages more than ⁠1.2 gigawatts of energy projects in ​Spain through Ibox Energy.

One of Cox's largest operations was the acquisition in 2025 of Iberdrola's assets in ⁠Mexico for $4.2 billion including debt.

In his May 13 open letter to Perez, who is an infrastructure development mogul and CEO of civil engineering ACS ​Group, Riquelme said the club needed ⁠to have a more democratic electoral process and ​that the best institutions were ‌those that combined "experience and renewal, ​past and future".

(Reporting by Charlie Devereux, Fernando Kallas, Graham Keeley; editing by Ken Ferris)