Who owns the Padres now?
José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones. MLB owners approved their purchase on August 17, 2026, ending the Seidler family's ownership, which began when Peter Seidler took control in 2020.
- Current owners
- Feliciano and Jones
- Previous era
- Seidler family
- Reported price
- ~$3.9 billion
- Kroc bought it for
- $12 million
Approved August 17, 2026
Control from 2020
Not officially confirmed
In 1974
The short version
- MLB owners approved the sale of the Padres to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones on August 17, 2026, with Feliciano as control person.
- Peter Seidler became controlling owner in November 2020 and died in November 2023; his brother John Seidler then served as chairman.
- The Seidler family announced in November 2025 that it would evaluate strategic options, including a sale.
- The sale price has been reported at around $3.9 billion but has never been officially disclosed by MLB or the club.
- Ray Kroc of McDonald's bought the team for $12 million in 1974 — a useful measure of how much the economics have changed.
The Padres changed hands in 2026, which is recent enough that a lot of published material — and a lot of people — still describe the previous owners. If you want the current answer: José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones, approved by Major League Baseball's owners on August 17, 2026, with Feliciano as the control person.
How ownership moved
Six decades of owners. The 2012 purchase by the Fowler/O'Malley–Seidler group valued the club at $800 million.
The Seidler era, and why people here remember it warmly
Peter Seidler was approved as control person and chairman on November 18, 2020. His tenure is associated locally with a willingness to spend on payroll that a market San Diego's size had not previously seen, and with the run of competitive teams that followed. He died on November 14, 2023, aged 63. The club's own announcement did not state a cause, and this page will not speculate on one.
His brother John Seidler subsequently became chairman and control person. In November 2025 the Seidler family announced it would evaluate strategic options for the franchise, including a sale — the step that led to the 2026 transaction.
What the club sold for
For scale: Ray Kroc, the McDonald's founder, bought the Padres in January 1974 for $12 million in cash, reportedly to stop the club moving to Washington. The Fowler and O'Malley–Seidler group paid $800 million in 2012. Whatever the 2026 price turns out to be, it is a different sport financially from the one Kroc bought into.
What did not change
Erik Greupner remained chief executive and A.J. Preller remained president of baseball operations and general manager through the sale, which is the detail that actually matters for how the team is run day to day. The new owners were introduced at Petco Park on August 24, 2026.
SOURCES
Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.
San Diego Padres / MLB · August 2026
MLB owners' approval of the sale on August 17, 2026, Feliciano as control person, and the retention of Greupner and Preller.
San Diego Padres · November 18, 2020
That Seidler was approved as control person and chairman on that date.
San Diego Padres · November 14, 2023
Seidler's death and its date.
- BackgroundSan Diego Padres team ownership history
Society for American Baseball Research · Checked September 30, 2026
The full ownership chain from C. Arnholt Smith through Kroc, Werner, Moores and the 2012 Fowler/O'Malley-Seidler purchase, with prices.
San Diego Padres / MLB · November 13, 2025
The family's announcement that it would evaluate options including a sale.