The shocking news is that John Angelos has agreed to sell the Orioles for $1.725 billion.
The Orioles are finally getting new owners, which is big news for the team on as well as off the field. It’s not clear as the deal will go through, but MLB owners are expected to be told more about it next week following their get-together in Orlando.
The Orioles will be sold to equity magnate David Rubenstein in a deal worth $1.725 billion, according to Puck News. John Angelos is the team’s chair and CEO.
Bloomberg says that Rubenstein, who was born in Baltimore and is worth around $4.6 billion, will be the “control person.”
Mike Arougheti, co-founder of Ares Management Corp., is also a component of the financial group that is buying into the ballclub.
The Baltimore Banner reported that the group stepping within to buy the beloved Md baseball team is made up of many Maryland leaders, philanthropists, and sports legends, such as Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr.
John Angelos, who is known for being very cheap, has been running the franchise for his father, Peter Angelos, since 2020 because his father’s health is getting worse. The team is full of young players who will be getting huge salaries in the next few years.
The owners, Rubenstein and Arougheti, will start with a 40 percent stake in the team and will buy Angelos’ remaining stake in the Orioles after his death. Angelos was a family patriarch who bought the team in 1993.
A report from Bloomberg said that Rubenstein had begun talks to buy the team while the Orioles were attempting to finalize their current lease with the state.
By a piece in the Wall Street Journal from late last month, John Angelos advised Maryland Gov. Wes Moore that the team wasn’t for sale.
Right now, it looks like the team is about to get a new group of wealthy owners that includes among of the team’s most famous players. In the same year, they had also thought about making an offer to buy the Nationals.
And Rubenstein is proud to be from Baltimore. He grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in Northwest Baltimore, went to Baltimore City College, and is very active in baseball in the city.
Rubenstein has wanted to buy the Orioles since 2022, when he and Ted Leonsis, owner of the Wizards, Mystics, and Capitals, said they might bid on the team if it was for sale.
The billionaire’s love of baseball was clear in an episode of “Iconic America” where he went to Fenway Park along talked about playing baseball as a child in Baltimore.
“It seems that the Orioles will finally be sold.” Several reliable sources have told me that the team’s owner, John Angelos, is willing to sell the franchise to a group consisting of two private equity billionaires.
David Rubenstein, who began the Carlyle Group and has been involved with the deal for months, and Ares Management Corp.
Mike Arougheti, who resides in New York helped start the company. It’s not clear how much Arougheti will be involved, but Rubenstein is expected to be the “control person,” which is what MLB calls the person who makes decisions for the team. The club is worth $1.725 billion after the deal, Ourand reported.
There have been many ups and downs for the Orioles since the Angelos became owners, but the downs may be what people remember most about that time.
In the 26 years since 1993, the Baltimore Orioles have only made the playoffs six times. In 2023, with a 101-61 record, they ended a six-year playoff drought. On top of that, they earned the American League East for the first time since 1997.