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San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler has died at the age of 63, the team announced on its official website Tuesday (November 14).
“The Padres organization mourns the passing of our beloved Chairman and owner, Peter Seidler,” said Padres CEO Erik Greupner. “Today, our love and prayers encircle Peter’s family as they grieve the loss of an extraordinary husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend. Peter was a kind and generous man who was devoted to his wife, children, and extended family. He also consistently exhibited heartfelt compassion for others, especially those less fortunate. His impact on the city of San Diego and the baseball world will be felt for generations. His generous spirit is now firmly embedded in the fabric of the Padres. Although he was our Chairman and owner, Peter was at his core a Padres fan. He will be dearly missed.”
Seidler, the grandson of late Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, founded Seidler Equity Partners, a private equity firm that has an estimated $5 billion in assets under management. The San Diego native purchased the Padres as part of the O'Malley group with his uncle, former Los Angeles Dodgers president Peter O'Malley and businessman Ron Fowler, from former owner John Moores in 2012, with the role of chairman transferring from Fowler to Seidler after the latter purchased the former's stake in the franchise to become its largest stakeholder in 2020.
The Padres' payroll increased to $237 million, which was the third-highest among all MLB teams, under Seidler, with several acquisition and contract extensions to given to notable players including Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr., among others. Seidler was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and had previously survived two bouts with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, though his cause of death has not yet been determined publicly.