Orioles strike deal to sell team to Baltimore native David Rubenstein for $1.725B

BALTIMORE – The Angelos family has reached an agreement to sell the Orioles to private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, according to a source with direct knowledge of the deal. Rubenstein is set to take over as the team’s control person as part of the deal, which values the team at $1.725 billion. The Angelos family has owned the team since Peter Angelos bought it for $173 million in 1993.

Legal documents from 2022 revealed that the longtime owner wished for the team to be sold following his death so his wife, Georgia, “could enjoy the great wealth they had amassed together.”

His elder son, John, has been the team’s control person since 2020. Rubenstein is a Baltimore native, philanthropist and founder of the Carlyle Group. Puck News, which was the first to report the sale on Tuesday evening, said he will initially assume a 40% ownership stake in the Orioles, with an agreement to purchase the remaining equity upon the death of family patriarch Peter Angelos.

The family would be subject to significant capital gains taxes if the team is sold before his death. The Orioles did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bloomberg reported in December that Rubenstein was among the suitors in talks to purchase the team, but potential investors had been inquiring about the availability of the franchise since Angelos’ health began to decline in 2017.

 

Kennedy Center Looking for New Leader as Billionaire David Rubenstein Announces Exit, Buys Baltimore Orioles

The Kennedy Center is looking for a new CEO.

Billionaire David Rubenstein, whose name and imprimatur is on the Center, the Washington Monument, and many other institutions, is stepping down. At 74, he says he’s had enough and will concentrate on buying the Baltimore Orioles. Because, why not?

Rubenstein is said to be worth $4 billion, all of it derived from his work at the secretive private equity firm, The Carlyle Group, which he founded.

In 2014, Rubenstein made news when he unceremoniously dismissed the beloved creator of the Kennedy Center Honors, producer and director George Stevens Jr. Rubenstein was determined to turn the Honors into something more resembling the Grammy Awards than a real salute to all the arts.

Rubenstein leaving now, before the fall presidential election, makes sense. This way there can be a transition to a Biden- backed successor rather than gamble on something unforeseen happening after the election. Meantime, Deborah Rutter, who’s very popular, will remain CEO.