A potentially record-setting deal is on the horizon as the San Diego Padres, a Major League Baseball team, are reportedly nearing a sale for an astounding $3.9 billion.
The Wall Street Journal has identified private-equity billionaire Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, as the leading contenders to finalize the purchase. The couple’s relationship dates back to their days as students at Princeton University.
If the Padres are acquired for $3.9 billion, it would shatter the current record for a baseball franchise sale, outpacing the $2.4 billion paid by Steve Cohen for the New York Mets by a significant $1.5 billion margin.
Feliciano and Jones have reportedly emerged victorious in a fierce bidding competition, which included notable figures such as Joe Lacob, owner of the Golden State Warriors, and Dan Friedkin, who owns the Premier League’s Everton and Italy’s Roma soccer clubs.
Before founding Clearlake Capital with Behdad Eghbali, Feliciano gained experience at Goldman Sachs. Forbes estimates his net worth to be just shy of $4 billion.
A deal to purchase MLB’s San Diego Padres is close to completion for a record $3.9billion
Even though the Padres will command a record figure, they have never won the World Series
Feliciano also serves on the board of Chelsea FC, following Clearlake’s acquisition of the Premier League team alongside American investor Todd Boehly in a deal exceeding $5 billion in 2022.
Jones, meanwhile, is the CEO of media and personal development firm Supercharged. She also co-founded a philanthropic platform that has so far committed in excess of $250m.
It was reported in November that the family of the late Padres owner Peter Seidler was exploring the possibility of selling the franchise. John Seidler became the Padres chairman after his brother’s death in November 2023.
Peter Seidler was part of a group that purchased the Padres for $800million in 2012, and he became the team’s primary owner in November 2020 after buying out Ron Fowler’s majority stake.
He quickly endeared himself to Padres fans with his aggressive spending in an attempt to win San Diego’s first major professional sports championship.
After the two-time cancer survivor died over two years ago, his wife, Sheel, sued her brothers-in-law Matthew and Robert in an attempt to prevent John Seidler from becoming the team’s control person.
Sheel Seidler alleged Peter Seidler wanted her to succeed him, but Matthew Seidler said Sheel Seidler’s claims were ‘entirely untrue, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them.’
Even though the Padres are about to command a record figure, the franchise has never won the World Series. They have only ever played in the World Series twice, losing to the Detroit Tigers in 1984 and the New York Yankees in 1998.
The Padres’ large, loyal fan base and their home, the well-regarded Petco Park, will be significant assets for the potential new owners.
The club has set a franchise record for home attendance in each of the past three seasons while drawing more than three million fans for the first three times in team history, capped by 3,437,201 in 2025 – a record average of 42,435 per game.
The San Diego metropolitan area is also among the top 20 largest markets in the U.S., yet the Padres were the only major professional sports team in town between the departure of the NFL’s Chargers in 2017 and the arrival of Major League Soccer’s expansion San Diego FC last season.
San Diego has made the postseason four times in the past six years, winning at least 90 games in each of the last two seasons with an exciting roster built around stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado.
The Padres continued to win despite reducing their payroll in 2024 following Peter Seidler’s death, with general manager A.J. Preller maintaining the late owner’s aggressive mindset with a series of ambitious moves.
The Padres won 90 games last year before losing a tense three-game Wild Card Series to the Chicago Cubs. In the offseason, Preller introduced former Padres reliever Craig Stammen as the club’s new manager.
