Who are the richest MLB team owners
Deep pockets are required to buy an MLB team.
Major League Baseball’s richest team owners include multibillionaires and powerful businesspeople across real estate, private equity and other fields.
Deep pockets are required to buy an MLB team. The average franchise valuation was $1.78 billion as of last April, according to Forbes.
A recent change to MLB’s bylaws could alter the ownership landscape. MLB allows private equity firms to acquire minority stakes in its teams, potentially shifting ownership from wealthy individuals to funds looking for alternative investments.
Meanwhile, MLB team owners remain a powerful voice guiding the league’s direction. FOX Business breaks down baseball’s richest individual owners below, according to Forbes’ calculations.
Ted Lerner, Washington Nationals
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 02: Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner speaks during a parade to celebrate the Washington Nationals World Series victory over the Houston Astros on November 2, 2019 in Washington, DC. This is the first World Series win fo
Estimated net worth: $5.7 billion
A prominent real estate developer and founder of Lerner Enterprises, Lerner bought control of the Nationals franchise in 2006 for $450 million. He retired as the team’s “control person” in 2018 and ceded management to his son, Mark Lerner.
Charles B. Johnson, San Francisco Giants
Estimated net worth: $4.8 billion
Johnson, 87, served as the longtime chairman and CEO of investment firm Franklin Templeton before stepping down in 2013. He bought the Giants in 1993 for $100 million.
Mark Walter, Los Angeles Dodgers
Mark Walter (Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)
Estimated net worth: $3.5 billion
Walter serves as co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, a global investment firm with more than $275 billion in assets under management, according to its website. Walter led a group of investors who bought the Dodgers out of bankruptcy in 2018.
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Arte Moreno, Los Angeles Angels
Artie Moreno (Photo/Robert Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Estimated net worth: $3.4 billion
A former advertising industry executive, Moreno bought the Angels from the Walt Disney Company in 2003 for $184 million. Moreno is in the process of purchasing the Astros home stadium and the surrounding land for real estate development.
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John Middleton, Philadelphia Phillies
John Middleton (Photo/Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
Estimated net worth: $3.3 billion
Middleton made his fortune by selling his family tobacco firm, John Middleton Co., to Altria in 2007. He holds a 48 percent majority stake in the Phillies.