Ted Lerner

Theodore N. Lerner

• School George Washington University
• High School Theodore Roosevelt High School (Washington)

• Born October 15, 1925 in Washington, DC USA
• Died February 12, 2023 in Chevy Chase, MD USA

Biographical Information

Ted Lerner headed a group that was announced in May 2006 as the buyers of the Washington Nationals. The group, which also included Lerner's son Mark Lerner, paid $450 million for the club. He served as the managing principal owner of the Nats until 2017, when he was replaced by Mark. He was 92 years old by this point and died in 2023 at the age of 97, of complications from pneumonia. By that point, the Lerner family had indicated that it was looking for investors to purchase a share or all of the team.

When he passed away, he was widely credited for bringing baseball back to the nation's capital, but that was not quite correct. Major League Baseball, which had owned the Montreal Expos since 2002, had long decided that it would relocate the team, even if there was no ownership group in place to take it over. So it moved the team to Washington, DC before the 2005 seasons and it was only a year later that a deal was struck to sell the team, now the Nationals, to Lerner. He was still alive when the Nationals won the 2019 World Series and participated in the on-field ceremonies that followed their win.

In his youth, he had worked as an usher at Griffith Stadium, former home of the Washington Senators. He served in the United States Army during World War II before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and later a law degree, both from George Washington University.

Lerner made his fortune in real estate in the Washington area, a profession he first entered in order to pay for his college education. His firm, Lerner Enterprises eventually became the largest private real estate development company in the D.C. area. He also had an ownership stake in the Washington Capitals of the NHL, the Washington Wizards of the NBA, and the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. He was also very involved in philanthropy and charitable causes in the areas of education, health, the arts, and Jewish causes.

Further Reading

• Jessica Camerato: "Nationals owner Ted Lerner dies at 97", mlb.com, February 13, 2023. [1]
• Steve Gardner (USA Today): "Washington Nationals principal owner Ted Lerner dies at 97", Yahoo! News, February 13, 2023. [2]