Big-spending San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler dies at 63
Peter Seidler, the San Diego Padres owner who spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the yet-elusive goal of bringing the city its first World Series title, died Tuesday in San Diego. He was 63.
His death was confirmed in a rack on Tuesday against the Padres. A cause was not disclosed.
Seidler, who had twice undergone treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said in September that he would not attend games for the rest of the season as he recovered from a medical procedure in August.
Seidler wasn’t shy about his ambitions to win a World Series with the Padres at all costs. Under his leadership, the Padres spent big on players in hopes of winning a title.
“I like to spend money,” Seidler said The San Diego Union-Tribune last year. “You can’t take it with you.”
The Padres, who debuted in 1969, made history in 2019 when the team signed third baseman Manny Machado to a 10-year contract worth $300 million. At the time, the deal was the largest contract given to a free agent. The following season, in 2020, the Padres reached the postseason, ending a 14-year playoff drought. They reached the National Championship Series in 2022.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said this in a rack Tuesday that Seidler “grew up in a baseball family.” Seidler was the grandson of Walter O’Malley, who stunned the baseball world in the late 1950s when he moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles from Brooklyn. Seidler was the nephew of Peter O’Malley, who took over the Dodgers after his father and led the team to World Series titles in 1981 and 1988.
Peter Seidler was born on November 7, 1960 in Alhambra, California, the son of Terry Seidler and Roland Seidler Jr. Seidler. He earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Virginia, where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Seidler also earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.
After working in the lending department of Bank of America, Seidler co-founded Seidler Equity Partners, a private equity investment firm, in 1992. He made a fortune from his investment company, which manages more than $5 billion in assets, according to the Padres.
Seidler’s foray into the sport began in 2012, when he formed an ownership group to purchase the Padres from John Moores. The group included his uncle Peter O’Malley, who left the Dodgers in the late 1990s. Seidler later took over as president of the Padres after Ron Fowler resigned in 2020.
As chairman, Seidler took a more aggressive spending approach with the Padres, acquiring pitchers Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove ahead of the 2021 season. The Padres reached the playoffs in 2022, heading to the National League Championship Seriesin which they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Entering the 2023 season, the Padres had one of the largest payrolls in Major League Baseball, leading some — including the commissioner — to question whether such spending was sustainable.
“I don’t spend too much time thinking about what other people think,” Seidler said in February. “We believe we have a great opportunity to go after that trophy and deliver the first parade in San Diego – and with great seriousness and humility.”
Seidler said The Union-Tribune in July that he intended for ownership of the team to remain in his family after his death.
Seidler is survived by his wife, Sheel, three children, nine siblings and his mother, Terry Seidler.
Petco Park, home of the Padres, opened Tuesday afternoon for fans to pay their respects.