For more than a century, Major League Baseball has stood as one of America’s most tradition-bound institutions. Since its modern founding in 1903, the league has weathered wars, strikes, integration battles, and cultural shifts, but one milestone has remained conspicuously unmet: no Black woman has ever held a majority ownership stake in an MLB franchise.
And that may soon change.Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and singer Kwanza Jones is on the brink of making history as part of a $3.9 billion agreement to purchase the San Diego Padres.
Last Saturday, the family of late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler announced it had reached an agreement to sell the franchise to an investor group led by Jones and her husband, José E. Feliciano, co-founder of private equity firm Clearlake Capital.
“The Padres are more than a baseball team; they are a unifying force in San Diego, rooted in community, connection, and belonging. As life and business partners, and as a family, we are honored to lead this next chapter together,” Jones and Feliciano said in a joint statement.
If approved, the purchase would make Jones the first Black woman to own a majority stake in MLB history. And Feliciano would cement his own place in the record books as the first majority owner in the league of Puerto Rican descent and the second Latino majority owner, joining Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno.
However, Jones is no stranger to being the “first.” As an undergraduate student at Princeton university, Jones won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater. She went on to earn a law degree from Cardozo School of Law and a master’s in dispute resolution from Pepperdine, released music on her own independent label, and founded a motivational media company.
Together, Jones and her husband have given over $200 million to education through their philanthropic work. So much so that in 2023, the couple became the first Black and Latino donors in Princeton’s history to have two residence halls named after them.
“We have worked hard for everything we have achieved, and we have built it together,” the couple noted. “We see that same spirit in this team and its fans, and we know what it takes to win.”
Now, the Jones-Feliciano deal still requires a formal vote among all 30 MLB clubs, which is expected at the league’s quarterly meeting in June. To pass, it needs at least 22 votes, followed by Securities and Exchange Commission review and sign-off from the City of San Diego. If all goes smoothly, the Jones-Feliciano era could formally begin around this summer’s All-Star break.
“This is about more than baseball — it’s about boosting the pride, energy, and connection that define the Padres, investing in community, deepening belonging, and ensuring this team remains accessible and endures for generations. We are all in — with the goal of bringing a World Series championship to San Diego,” they concluded.
