The lawsuit brought by Peter Seidler’s widow against her late husband’s brothers over management of his trust has been partially settled, bringing closer to an end a chapter in the battle between Sheel Seidler and the family and clearing an obstacle to the potential sale of the Padres.
A filing in a Travis County, Texas court dated Monday said a resolution between the parties had caused Sheel Seidler to drop the claims in her original lawsuit filed in January 2025 except her claims of breach of duty related to trust distributions and demand for accounting.
That means Sheel Seidler still maintains the two main claims in her lawsuit — that the trustees have failed to allocate the trust and that she has not received all the income she is due.
Crucially, there is a section in Peter Seidler’s trust that gives Sheel Seidler the right to “require any property (of the trust) that is unproductive of income be converted.” That essentially means she can force the sale of those assets. The trust’s primary asset is the Padres.
Sheel Seidler also claimed in her suit that she was the rightful control person of the Padres and contested the naming of John Seidler, Peter’s eldest brother, as trustee. John Seidler was elevated to the role in December 2024, and Major League Baseball owners approved him as the team’s control person in February of last year.
An attorney for the Seidler brothers declined comment on Wednesday, and representatives for Sheel Seidler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In November, the Seidler family announced it was exploring a sale of the team.
As the Seidler family explores a sale, the Padres are considered ‘beachfront real estate’
MLB does not expressly prohibit the sale of a franchise involved in litigation, but multiple sources predicted that a resolution would precede any such transaction.
Team and league executives are in the process of presenting the team’s financials to prospective buyers.
Joe Lacob, the principal owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, is the only publicly known suitor. Lacob met with Padres officials in San Diego last week. Two league sources said the group he heads is the leading suitor. Others involved in the process characterized that as not accurate.
Sportico on Wednesday identified Jose E. Feliciano and Dan Friedkin as suitors, though the extent of their interest is not known.
Friedkin, who was born in San Diego, owns Premier League club Everton and Serie A club Roma. Feliciano’s private equity firm is the majority owner of the Premier League club Chelsea.
Forbes valued the Padres at $1.95 billion last March, though that estimate is generally considered low. In November, multiple sources with knowledge of recent team sales placed the Padres’ value at more than $2.5 billion based on recent sales that have resulted in teams fetching 5 1/2 times their annual revenue. One league source said recently that the Padres’ valuation of the team was close to $3 billion.
Timeline: A look at the Seidler family’s stewardship of the Padres
Approximately a dozen people or entities make up the Padres’ current ownership group.
Sheel Seidler and her three minor children are the “beneficial owners” of 24% of the team, which makes them the single largest shareholders.
The Seidler family — including the estate of Peter Seidler’s mother, Therese, who died in December, his siblings and other relatives — collectively controls another 20% of the team. The remaining portion of the ownership is split between eight to 10 other separate stakeholders.