The identity of all four bidders for the Padres is now known.
Tom Gores, who owns the Detroit Pistons of the NBA, is among those vying to purchase the team, a source confirmed Wednesday. The Athletic first reported Gores’ involvement.
Gores, who in 2024 bought a 27% stake in the Los Angeles Chargers, is the founder of Platinum Equity.
Final bids for the team are due in early April, and the sale could be completed that month, sources familiar with the process have said.
The team is widely expected to sell for more than $3 billion, which would break the record of $2.42 billion Steve Cohen paid for the Mets in 2020. Forbes recently valued the Padres at $3.1 billion, a year-over-year increase of 59%. One league source who has spoken with people involved in the sale process said the sale price is expected to significantly exceed that valuation.
The three previously known bidders for the Padres are also already owners of major professional sports franchises.
Jose E. Feliciano is co-founder of Clearlake Capital, which owns a majority stake in Chelsea of the Premier League. Dan Friedkin, a native San Diegan who now lives in Texas, is chairman of the Premier League’s Everton and Serie A club Roma. Joe Lacob is the principal owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
The Seidler family, which controls the Padres, began exploring a sale in November. As many as a dozen people or entities are part of the ownership group. All are expected to sell their stakes.
Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler headed a group that bought the team for $800 million in 2012. That number included the assumption of $200 million in debt and $200 million that outgoing owner John Moores retained from a newly signed regional television deal.
Fowler served as team chairman through the 2020 season and sold his remaining stake in the team the following year. Seidler was the team’s chairman until his death in November 2023.
His passing was the beginning of the end of the family’s ownership. His brother, John, has served as chairman since February 2025. But Peter Seidler’s trust, of which John is the trustee, is the single-largest stakeholder.
Sheel Seidler, Peter’s widow, and their three children are beneficiaries of that trust. Sheel Seidler sued former trustees Matthew and Robert Seidler in January 2025, alleging they had defrauded her and that she was the rightful control person of the Padres. She dropped most facets of that lawsuit in February.