A South African investment manager says his former classmate turned a dream equity stake in a celebrity padel tournament into a nightmare
Paul Coelho thought he knew Tyron Birkmeir. They’d gone to school together in South Africa, shared the bonds of youth, and maintained the kind of connection that transcends decades. So when Birkmeir – by then a polished banker from the prestigious Swiss institution Julius Baer – approached him about investing in a celebrity-studded padel tournament, trust wasn’t hard to come by.
That trust, Coelho now alleges, may have cost him and his co-investor nearly £1 million and any stake in what was meant to be one of sport’s most glamorous ventures.
The Pitch That Seemed Perfect
November 2023. The Hexagon Cup was taking shape as padel’s answer to elite team competitions – think Ryder Cup meets emerging global sport. The names attached were stratospheric: Lionel Messi, one of football’s all-time greats. Andy Murray, the British tennis champion. Eva Longoria, Hollywood star turned entrepreneur. Sergio Agüero, beloved striker turned celebrity investor.
For investors, the opportunity seemed golden. Padel was exploding across Europe and Latin America. Celebrity involvement meant media attention, sponsor interest, and premium positioning. And the deal was coming through Tyron Birkmeir, whose resume included time at Julius Baer – a bank that manages wealth for some of the world’s most sophisticated investors.
According to Coelho and his co-investor Wellington Investments Ltd (based in Anguilla), the proposition was straightforward: invest approximately £1 million, receive equity participation in the Hexagon Cup, potentially through a SAFE structure that would convert to shares as the venture matured.
The personal connection with Birkmeir made it feel safer. This wasn’t some cold pitch from a stranger – this was a former schoolmate who’d made good in Swiss banking. The funds were transferred through Birkmeir’s investment vehicle, Lurra Capital, which would supposedly facilitate their entry into the Hexagon Cup’s ownership structure.
The Long Wait
Throughout 2024, the Hexagon Cup developed impressively. Celebrity owners were announced with fanfare. Top padel players were signed to teams. The prestigious Caja Mágica venue in Madrid was secured. Marketing materials positioned the January 2026 launch as the sport’s coming-out party on the global stage.
For Coelho and his co-investor, watching from afar, it must have been exciting – seeing what they believed was their equity investment take shape, the tournament they partly owned becoming real.
But as 2025 progressed, a nagging question began to form: Where exactly did they stand in the ownership structure?
The Discovery
When the investors finally reached out directly to Hexagon Cup management to confirm their equity position, the response was shocking.
According to their account, Hexagon Cup indicated that Paul Coelho’s name wasn’t in their investor records. Neither was Wellington Investments Ltd. Instead, the company’s records allegedly showed just one investor associated with that nearly £1 million capital injection: Lurra Capital – Tyron Birkmeir’s company.
The investors say they’d expected to see their own names listed as equity holders. Instead, it appeared that the man who was supposed to facilitate their investment had registered the shares in his own company’s name.
“It Was Always a Loan”
The confrontation that followed must have been surreal. According to the investors, when they raised the discrepancy with Birkmeir, his response – delivered through legal counsel – fundamentally redefined the entire transaction.
It wasn’t an equity investment, they were told. It had always been structured as a “profit participation loan.” Under that characterization, they weren’t owners at all – they were creditors. Birkmeir’s representatives reportedly denied owing any fiduciary duties and offered to return the £1 million principal.
But nothing more. No equity. No shares. No participation in the upside of a tournament now associated with some of the world’s most famous athletes.
For Coelho, this must have felt like betrayal compounded by gaslighting. He’d trusted a former schoolmate. He’d committed substantial capital. And now he was being told that what he thought he’d bought – ownership in an exciting sports venture – had never existed.
The Paper Trail That Doesn’t Match
The investors allege something else troubling: that the financial documents Birkmeir provided during the investment process don’t match publicly available data from the company itself.
If true, this suggests that either different stakeholders were receiving different versions of the company’s financial picture, or that there were fundamental inconsistencies in how the investment was being documented internally versus externally.
Either scenario raises serious questions about transparency and fair dealing.
Not the First Time?
Perhaps most damning are the investors’ claims that this isn’t Tyron Birkmeir’s first rodeo with disputed investment structures.
According to information they’ve surfaced, Birkmeir has previously been a defendant in legal proceedings in Luxembourg and the United States involving similar allegations – disputes over investment funds and claims that equity arrangements were improperly converted into debt structures, with Birkmeir or his entities emerging as the registered owners.
The specific details and outcomes of those prior cases aren’t fully public. But if the pattern the investors describe is accurate – multiple disputes across multiple jurisdictions involving similar claims of equity-to-debt conversions – it paints a troubling picture.
The Julius Baer Halo
Tyron Birkmeir’s time at Julius Baer clearly mattered in establishing credibility. The Swiss bank is synonymous with wealth management excellence, rigorous standards, and sophisticated client service. Having that institution on your resume opens doors and creates trust.
Julius Baer has no involvement in the current dispute and hasn’t commented on the matter. But the case illustrates how professional pedigree can create powerful halos of legitimacy – and how those halos can persist long after someone has left the institution that granted them.
The Celebrity Factor
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi, Andy Murray, Eva Longoria, and Sergio Agüero are preparing to lead their teams at the Hexagon Cup’s Madrid launch on January 28. There’s no indication they’re aware of the investment dispute swirling around the tournament’s funding.
For celebrities lending their names and images to commercial ventures, this kind of controversy represents a potential reputational risk even when they’re not directly involved. Sponsors, broadcasters, and fans expect clean governance and transparent operations – especially in premium sporting properties.
What Trust Costs
At its heart, this is a story about trust and what happens when it’s allegedly violated.
Paul Coelho and his co-investor say they trusted a former schoolmate with nearly £1 million, believing they were buying into a piece of padel’s future. They claim they’ve been told, almost two years later, that they never actually bought what they thought they were buying.
Tyron Birkmeir’s reported position is that the arrangement was always as stated – a loan structure, not equity, and that he’s prepared to return the principal.
Someone’s version of events is fundamentally mistaken, or fundamentally dishonest.
Without access to the complete documentation – the term sheets, the wire transfer instructions, the communications between parties, the contemporaneous understandings – it’s impossible to know with certainty what was truly agreed.
What’s certain is that a friendship formed in South African schools has ended in allegations of financial impropriety, threatened litigation, and a very public dispute over who owns what in a tournament that was supposed to be a celebration.
Author’s Note: This article presents one side’s account of an ongoing civil dispute. Tyron Birkmeir and Lurra Capital have not provided detailed public comments beyond the reported legal position that the transaction was structured as a loan. Hexagon Cup management has not issued statements on the matter. All allegations remain unproven claims in a developing legal situation. Both parties deserve the opportunity to present their evidence in appropriate legal proceedings.