Ishbias strike deal with option to buy Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has reached a deal with Chicago billionaire Justin Ishbia that gives Ishbia the right to buy the Major League Baseball franchise in the future, with his Michigan-based brother and father as investors.

The team on Thursday announced a “long-term investment agreement” between the two that “establishes a framework for Ishbia to obtain a future controlling interest in the White Sox.”

Mat Ishbia, chairman and CEO of Pontiac-based UWM Holdings Inc., and father Jeff Ishbia “will also be significant investors,” the statement said. “There is no assurance that any such future transaction will occur, and in no event will such a transaction take place before 2029.”

Under the deal, Reinsdorf will have the option to sell the controlling interest to Justin Ishbia between 2029 and 2033, according to a statement from the team. After the 2034 season, Ishbia will have the option to acquire the franchise, the statement said. Ishbia, who is managing partner of Chicago investment firm Shore Capital Partners, will also “make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations.”

The team said the Reinsdorf family will continue to own the controlling interest in the franchise until 2029.

“Having the incredible opportunity to own the Chicago White Sox and be part of Major League Baseball for nearly 50 years has been a life-changing experience,” Reinsdorf said in the statement. “I have always expressed my intent to operate the White Sox as long as I am able and remain committed to returning this franchise to the level of on-field success we all expect and desire.”

In the event of any such future transaction, all limited partners of the Sox would have the opportunity to sell to Ishbia at that time, the team’s statement said.

Justin Ishbia has recently purchased a minority, non-controlling share of the franchise.

Justin Ishbia is also a part-owner of the Phoenix Suns with his brother, Mat, as principal owner. The brothers acquired a majority stake in the NBA’s Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury from Robert Sarver in February 2023.

Ishbia, who is managing partner of Chicago investment firm Shore Capital Partners, will also “make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations.”

In addition to Justin Ishbia, his brother Mat Ishbia and father Jeff Ishbia “will also be significant investors,” the statement said. “There is no assurance that any such future transaction will occur, and in no event will such a transaction take place before 2029.”

The team said the Reinsdorf family will continue to own the controlling interest in the franchise until 2029.

“Having the incredible opportunity to own the Chicago White Sox and be part of Major League Baseball for nearly 50 years has been a life-changing experience,” Reinsdorf, 89, said in the statement.

“I have always expressed my intent to operate the White Sox as long as I am able and remain committed to returning this franchise to the level of on-field success we all expect and desire.”

In the event of any such future transaction, all limited partners of the Sox would have the opportunity to sell to Justin Ishbia at that time, the team’s statement said.

Ishbia has recently purchased a minority, noncontrolling share of the franchise. He and Mat Ishbia have been active buyers of professional sports franchises in recent years. Mat made a big splash in 2023 with the purchase of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury at a $4 billion valuation. The brothers also have an interest in Major League Soccer club Nashville SC.

The family’s fortune stems from Jeff Ishbia’s founding of the wholesale mortgage lender now known as United Wholesale Mortgage in 1986. UWM went public through a reverse merger in 2021 and now has a market capitalization of $6.6 billion.

“This is an investment in the future of the Chicago White Sox, and I am excited for the opportunity to deepen my commitment to the city and the team,” Justin Ishbia, 47, said in a statement. “I love Chicago, have always loved baseball, and am thrilled to marry two of my passions. I am also very pleased to have my brother Mat and father Jeff joining me in this investment, bringing their collective business and sports acumen to the partnership.”

Reinsdorf has been chairman of the White Sox since purchasing the franchise in 1981.

Stadium implications

The framework agreement adds a new wrinkle to Reinsdorf’s push for a new stadium in the city as the team looks ahead to an expiration of its lease at Rate Field in Bridgeport after the 2029 season. The team has an option to extend that lease by one year through 2030, according to the Sox.

Reinsdorf and Related Midwest since early last year have pushed for a publicly subsidized venue at the Chicago developer’s South Loop site known as The 78, the prospect of which has gotten a chilly response from state lawmakers in Springfield.

The idea also got more complicated this week when Related and Chicago Fire FC owner Joe Mansueto announced a deal for the Major League Soccer team to buy part of the 62-acre site and build a new soccer stadium there.

Related and the Sox have not shut the door on the prospect of a new baseball stadium on the land as well, and the team said in a statement this week that it continues “to have conversations with Related Midwest about the site’s possibilities and opportunities.”

Chicago Alderman Pat Dowell whose ward includes the 78 site, poured cold water on the idea of a Sox stadium in addition to a Fire venue, telling Crain’s the site is “too small for two stadiums.”

It’s unclear what Justin Ishbia’s future ownership option means for the stadium conversations. His deep pockets could play an important role in financing a new venue, potentially helping the Sox eliminate or reduce the need for taxpayer help.

But Ishbia also has ties to Nashville — long speculated as a potential destination for the franchise if it were to be relocated — through the city’s soccer franchise and his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, where he serves on the school’s board of trust.

BDT & MSD Partners represented the Reinsdorf family as a financial adviser in the agreement with Ishbia, according to the team.