Major League Baseball has been operating in its modern form since 1903. In more than 120 years of the sport’s professional history, not one Black woman has ever held a majority ownership stake in any of its 30 franchises. That is a long time, and an even longer overdue.
That is now on the verge of changing.
The family of the late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler announced last Saturday that it had reached an agreement to sell the franchise to an investor group led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Kwanza Jones and her husband, José E. Feliciano, co-founder of the private equity firm Clearlake Capital. The reported sale price stands at $3.9 billion, surpassing the previous MLB record by a wide margin. That record was set in 2020 when Steve Cohen purchased the New York Mets for $2.4 billion.
The deal, if approved, would make Jones the first Black woman to serve as majority owner in Major League Baseball history. Feliciano, for his part, would also claim a historic distinction, becoming the second Latino majority owner in the league and the first of Puerto Rican descent, following Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno.
A life built on historic firsts
For Jones, breaking barriers is nothing new. Long before the Padres deal made headlines, she was already writing a story that few could have imagined. While still an undergraduate student at Princeton University, she won Amateur Night at the legendary Apollo Theater, a feat that announced her as someone who operates on a different level. She went on to earn a law degree from Cardozo School of Law and a master’s in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University. She then launched a music career on her own independent label and built a motivational media company from the ground up.
Her influence extends well beyond business and entertainment. Together, Jones and Feliciano have directed more than $200 million toward education and equity initiatives through their philanthropic foundation. Jones has served on the boards of the Apollo Theater, Susan G. Komen and Bennett College, a historically Black institution where her mother, aunt and other relatives are alumnae.
In 2023, Princeton named two residence halls after the couple, marking the first time in the university’s nearly 280-year history that dormitories had been named after Black and Latino donors.
What comes next for the Padres
Before Jones and Feliciano can officially take the reins in San Diego, the ownership transfer must clear a series of approvals. A formal vote among all 30 MLB clubs is expected at the league‘s quarterly meeting in June. The deal needs at least 22 votes to move forward. After that, it will undergo review by the Securities and Exchange Commission and will also need sign off from the City of San Diego, which holds a financial stake in Petco Park. That final step has historically moved quickly in previous ownership transfers, which puts the formal start of the Jones-Feliciano era around this summer’s All-Star break.
A franchise on the rise
The timing could not be more favorable. The Padres are San Diego’s only major professional sports team, and the franchise has seen record attendance for three consecutive seasons. When the sale was announced last Saturday, the team carried a 19-12 record on the year, signaling genuine momentum both on and off the field.
Jones and Feliciano have made clear that winning is the goal. They have pointed to a World Series championship as the ultimate objective, alongside a vision of building a franchise that the city of San Diego can feel connected to across generations. Given everything Jones has already accomplished, that is less of an ambition and more of a blueprint.
