Lewis Wolff

Lewis Wolff

• School University of Wisconsin

Biographical Information

Lewis Wolff and an ownership group purchased the Oakland Athletics in 2005, making Wolff the team's principal owner.

In the past, Wolff has been a co-owner of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League and the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. His group also owns the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.

One of Wolff's main priorities after purchasing the A's was to try to find a new ballpark for the team, the Oakland Coliseum being considered both outdated and poorly located. He has tried to find a site in San Jose, CA, but bumped up against the opposition of the owners of the San Francisco Giants, who own territorial rights to the area. This difficulty prompted speculation that Wolff could seek to move the team out of the Bay Area entirely at some point. He was now able to find a resolution to this situation during his chairmanship.

In November of 2016, he announced that he was stepping down from his position of managing partner, handing the position to John Fisher. The move was motivated by Wolff's desire to retire from active management. He retained the title of chairman emeritus and agreed to sell his shares to current ownership group members.