BRIDGEPORT — Longtime White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has agreed on a plan to have local billionaire Justin Ishbia eventually buy the team.
Reinsdorf, 89, said in a Thursday statement he’s reached a “long-term agreement” with Ishbia, 47, to potentially sell him a controlling stake of the White Sox by the end of the 2034 season.
The agreement gives Reinsdorf the option to sell his controlling interest to Ishbia between 2029 and 2033. After the 2034 season, the decision flips to Ishbia, who will have “the option” to buy the team, according to the press release.
“Having the incredible opportunity to own the Chicago White Sox and be part of Major League Baseball for nearly 50 years has been a life-changing experience,” Reinsdorf said. “I have always expressed my intent to operate the White Sox as long as I am able and remained committed to returning this franchise to the level of on-field success we all expect and desire.”
As part of the deal, “Ishbia will make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations,” the team said.
Ishbia is a co-founder of Chicago-based private equity firm Shore Capital Partners and a majority owner of the Phoenix Suns with his brother Mat. Forbes lists Justin Ishbia’s net worth at $4.3 billion.
Ishbia dropped a pursuit to buy the Minnesota Twins in February and instead increased his minority stake in the Sox.
It is unclear how much Ishbia has told Reinsdorf he’s willing to pay for the team — or what he would do with it amid Reinsdorf’s push for a new stadium and threats of relocating to another city.
“There is no assurance that any such future transaction will occur, and in no event will such a transaction take place before 2029,” according to the team’s statement. “Until such time, the Reinsdorf family will continue to own the controlling interest in the White Sox.”
The team added that Reinsdorf — who purchased the team in 1981 for $20 million — remains the “sole day-to-day decisionmaker for the club.”
Marc Ganis, a sports business expert and consultant, said the agreement was likely “in motion for months” as smaller minority owners of the White Sox were recently bought out.
Ishbia would be one of MLB’s richest owners, Ganis said. Mat Ishbia spent big in a failed effort to make the Phoenix Suns championship contenders after the brothers bought the team in 2023. It should be welcome news for Sox fans that Ishbia has strong ties to Chicago, Ganis said.
“This is a family buying and acquiring sports teams to hold for many years,” Ganis said. “Their focus with the Suns was spending way over the salary cap. It wasn’t successful, but that was the effort.”
The White Sox have been in a tailspin since its last postseason appearance in 2021, losing a Major League record-setting 121 games last season — drawing swelling crowds of chanting fans with signs urging Reinsdorf to sell the team.
Ishbia it set to spend $77.7 million on a project to build a personal mansion in suburban Winnetka, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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