Report: Baltimore Orioles set for $1.725 billion sale to David Rubenstein, Mike Arougheti
David Rubenstein turned a private equity fortune into a reputation as one of Washington's powerhouse philanthropists. Now, it appears his next charity act will be the Baltimore Orioles' long-diminished payroll.
Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, has agreed to purchase the Orioles from the Angelos family for $1.725 billion, Puck News reported Tuesday.
Rubenstein will be joined in his ownership bid by a fellow private equity mogul, Ares Management co-founder Mike Arougheti, Puck reported. Yet it is Rubenstein, 74, with a net worth estimated at $3.7 billion, who will provide the biggest financial muscle behind the proposed purchase.
If approved by Major League Baseball and its 29 other owners, Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, will land a sports franchise after exploring bids for the Washington Commanders — sold to a group led by Josh Harris — and Nationals, who remain for sale with no viable offer still in sight.
It would end a 31-year ownership by the Angelos family, which led by patriarch Peter Angelos purchased the Orioles for $173 million in 1993. With Angelos, 94, in failing health, son John Angelos has taken over as the club's control person to MLB, after a protracted family battle that pitted John and his mother Georgia against John's brother, Louis.
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Puck reported that Rubenstein plans to purchase a 40% stake in the club until the elder Angelos' death, after which the new owners will purchase the remainder. MLB owners are scheduled for a quarterly meeting in Orlando, Florida, next week; any approval of the sale likely would not come until the following quarter, after significant due diligence by the league.
The Orioles never advanced to a World Series under the Angelos reign, but after three 100-loss seasons in four years from 2018-2021, they won 101 games this past season and captured their second American League East title since 1997.
Are the Orioles leaving Baltimore?
John Angelos complained in a New York Times interview in August that he would have to vastly increase prices to afford retaining the Orioles' gaggle of young stars, and also put off extending the club's lease at Camden Yards in hopes of developing a multi-use development near the stadium that ushered in a ballpark renaissance in the '90s.
With an end-of-year deadline looming, the team and state finalized a 30-year lease on Dec. 18, but plans to develop areas around Camden Yards were at least temporarily tabled; the club has an out clause after 15 years if the team does not receive state approval to develop areas around the stadium.
Now, it appears there will be a new beginning for franchise and ownership.
Rubenstein stepped down as chairman of the Kennedy Center on Monday, agreeing to stay on until a successor is found to follow his 27-year reign, during which he donated $111 million to the national cultural arts center.
"I am 74 years old," Rubenstein said Monday, per the Washington Post, "an age which is too young to be president of the United States, but generally considered to be old enough for other things.”
Such as building upon the Orioles' success. With Rookie of the Year infielder Gunnar Henderson, All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman and the consensus best farm system in the game, Baltimore's on-field future is extremely bright.
And there's a clean sheet to work with: Baltimore's 2023 payroll was $60.7 million, with only the relocating Oakland A's expending less money. With several players receiving raises through arbitration, that figure will balloon north of $80 million in 2024, though it will still easily rank in MLB's bottom third.
In a few months, the club's pockets could be that much deeper.