On May 2, 2012, Guggenheim Baseball Management group was officially announced as the new ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The group, led by principal owner Mark Walter, purchased the team, stadium and surrounding real estate for a record $2 billion from Frank McCourt.
In addition to Walter, the Guggenheim ownership group included team president and CEO Stan Kasten, and part-owners Todd Boehly, Peter Guber, Magic Johnson and Bobby Patton.
The record-setting purchase stood until 2020, when hedge fund manager Steve Cohen purchased the New York Mets for $2.4 billion from the Wilpon family.
Today, both owners are within the top five among MLB team owners in net worth, with Walter ranking fifth with a net worth of $5 billion, according to a list put together by MLB Trade Rumors and compiled based on data from Forbes and the L.A Times.
Cohen has the highest net worth among owners at $15.9 billion, followed by the Toronto Blue Jays owner Rogers Communications and chairman Edward Rogers III, who is at $11.5 billion.
The only other owners ahead of Walter are the Atlanta Braves ownership Liberty Media, whose chairman John Malone is worth $8 billion; and San Francisco Giants owner Charles B. Johnson, who is worth $5.8 billion.
Following Walter are the Lerner Family, who own the Washington Nationals ($4.9 billion); the Dolan family, who own the Cleveland Guardians ($4.6 billion); the Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs ($4.5 billion); and St. Louis Cardinals owner William DeWitt Jr. at $4 billion.
The Steinbrenner family, who own the New York Yankees, ranks 10th at $3.8 billion; and L.A. Angels owner Arturo Moreno is tied with Boston Red Sox owner John Henry at 13th with $3.6 billion.
Among National League West teams, San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler’s personal net worth is unknown, but Seidler Equity Partners are estimated at around $3 billion, while the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies ownerships both rank within the bottom five with less than one billion each.
Only six owners have net worths that have not reached one billion: Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg ($800 million), Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio ($700m), Rockies owner Richard Monfort ($700m), Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick ($600m), Miami Marlins Owner Bruce Sherman ($500m) and Cincinnati Reds Owner Robert Castellini ($400m).
Walter, Dodgers not part of MLB team payrolls trend
Revenue in MLB has risen each season — excluding 2020 — and set a record $10.7 billion in 2019, according to Forbes. It is unclear how much revenue was made in 2021 as clubs keep their financial information hidden as much as possible, but if the Braves are any indication, the league is back to normal after 2020.
It was revealed the Braves had a nearly 11% revenue increase in quarter three of 2021 compared to quarter three in 2019 and exceeded the franchise-record full-year revenue total, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
However, despite the rising amounts of revenue teams are making, players have been seeing less of that money each season since the last collective bargaining agreement that was agreed to prior to the 2017 season, with payrolls dropping by nearly 5% since their previous high in 2017.
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