The Padres are on the verge of historic new ownership.
San Diego’s lone major sports franchise is about to be sold for a record price to a group headed by Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, a source confirmed Friday morning. The sale is subject to the approval of 22 of MLB’s other 29 owners, which is expected to happen in the next few weeks.
The price is $3.9 billion — $1.5 billion more than the previous Major League Baseball record paid by Steve Cohen to purchase the Mets in 2020.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report the pending agreement.
The 53-year-old Felicianio is one of the founders of Clearlake Capital. The Los Angeles-based billionaire, who is one of the owners of the Premier League club Chelsea, beat out three other groups bidding to buy the team. Those groups were led by Dan Friedkin, who owns the Premier League club Everton, Tom Gores, who owns the Detroit Pistons and more than a quarter stake in the Chargers, and Joe Lacob, owner of the Golden State Warriors.
Kwanza Jones, left, and Jose E. Feliciano attend the dedication Jose E. Feliciano Hall, of student residential facility at Princeton University, in 2023. There is also a Kwanza Jones Hall at the university, where both are alumni. (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative)
Feliciano remains a managing partner of Clearlake Capital, which has its headquarters in Santa Monica. He was born in Puerto Rico and graduated from Princeton before earning his MBA from Stanford.
The Seidler family announced it was exploring a sale of the team in November, almost exactly two years after former chairman Peter Seidler died.
Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler headed a group that bought the team for $800 million in 2012. Seidler took over as club chairman in November 2020.