The wait continues for the eventual sale of the Washington Commanders from current owner Dan Snyder to the group headlined by Josh Harris. As the days pass without a final resolution, we continue to learn more and more about the investors involved.
Long rumored to be involved in the sale, basketball legend Magic Johnson was confirmed by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe to be a minority investor. Johnson is reportedly expected to be in for about four percent of the purchase or approximately $240M. Danaher Corporation co-founder Mitchell Rales has also been confirmed to be involved, according to Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post.
Another limited partner was identified as South American billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo and family, according to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico. The Santo Domingo family is worth approximately $12.2B thanks to a portfolio that includes investments in the likes of Anhueser-Busch InBev, Chilean bank Corpbanca and Spanish bank Inmobiliaria Colonial. They are believed to be the richest family in Colombia. Santo Domingo, himsel,f has an estimated net worth of $2.8B, according to Maske and Jhabvala.
Additionally, ex-CEO of Google Eric Schmidt has been confirmed as an investor in the group, according to Giles Turner and Heather Perlberg of Bloomberg. Schmidt’s net worth is estimated around $21.7B by some sources, $18.1B by others. Schmidt left Google in 2018 and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, a year later.
While all these names have been confirmed as participating, one notable name was confirmed as steering clear. Despite some speculation that former Washington head coach Joe Gibbs would be joining the investment group, it appears his only involvement in the sale is on an advisory basis. According to John Keim of ESPN, Gibbs “is close to Harris and has provided insight/counsel.”
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