Peter O'Malley

Peter O'Malley

• School University of Pennsylvania

• Born December 12, 1937 in Brooklyn, NY USA

Biographical Information

The son of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, Peter O'Malley majored in business at Wharton school of finance, before going to work for the Dodgers. He was the director of Dodgertown in 1962 and was president and GM of the Spokane Indians in 1965-1966. He moved to the big leagues as vice president in charge of stadium operations in 1967, becoming executive vice president in 1969. When his father became chairman of the board, Peter became President of the Dodgers in 1970. Upon the death of his father in 1979, Peter and his sister inherited the club. The Dodgers won two World Series in the 1980s under O'Malley's leadership. In 1998, he sold the team to the Fox Entertainment Group for a reported $311 million.

In January of 2012, he reemerged as one of the major figures bidding for the Dodgers in the court-supervised sale of the team prompted by Frank McCourt's costly divorce settlement. O'Malley had allied himself with investors Stanley Gold, the former chairman of the University of Southern California's Board of Trustees, and Tony Ressler, with the aim of restoring the organization's aura of respectability which he claimed was lost after he sold the team. He was facing competition from some 20 other bidders, many of them just as well financed and politically connected. However, O'Malley's group retired early from the process, even though its bid was reportedly one of the highest on the table. He expressed concern that he would have been kept from being among the finalists no matter how much he had bid, because of his stinging criticisms directed at McCourt in recent years. However, he indicated interest in assisting the winning group in rebuilding the team's tarnished image in the community.

Undeterred, O'Malley continued his pursuit of returning to baseball ownership by making a bid for the San Diego Padres, partnering with San Diego, CA businessman Ron Fowler, a former minority owner of the Padres, and pro golfer Phil Mickelson. It was reported in June of 2012 that the two had offered current Padres owner John Moores $800 million for the team, following a failed bid led by former player agent Jeff Moorad, and on August 16th, the sale was approved by Major League Baseball. Peter's sons, Kevin and Brian, and nephews Peter Seidler and Tom Seidler, were chosen to represent the family in the new ownership group. Peter would eventually rise to the position of team principal.