The lengthy and disputed effort to find a new owner for the San Diego Padres appears headed toward completion, with Chelsea FC owner Jose E. Feliciano emerging as the winning bidder with an unprecedented $3.9 billion offer.
Multiple sources indicate the basic terms have been settled, leaving only the requirement for three-quarters of Major League Baseball owners to give their approval before the transaction becomes official.
Should the deal receive the green light, it would obliterate the existing MLB franchise sale record set when Steve Cohen acquired the New York Mets for $2.42 billion in 2020.
Feliciano, who established Clearlake Capital and holds partial ownership of Chelsea FC, joined the bidding process alongside his spouse Kwanza Jones when the Seidler Family put the team up for sale.
The franchise’s longtime owner Peter Seidler passed away in 2023, leaving family members divided over who should control the organization. Current Padres chairman John Seidler announced in November that the team would be sold. Forbes had valued the Padres at $3.1 billion heading into the 2026 season.
Through Clearlake Capital, Feliciano controls more than 60 percent of Chelsea, with the ownership group including Mark Walter, Todd Boehly and Hansjorg Wyss as partners.
Other prominent figures who pursued the MLB franchise included Joe Lacob, who owns the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, the WNBA’s Valkyries and San Francisco’s Chase Center; Dan Friedkin, who serves as principal owner of three European soccer teams; and Tom Gores, owner of both Platinum Equities and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
The Wall Street Journal cited sources familiar with the agreement who indicated the Padres hope to complete the entire sale process by June.
