MLB remains the only major North American pro league without a salary cap, but its owners aren’t hurting for money. Many of them appear on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.
Still, even among the billionaire class, there are tiers. Sometimes that shows up on the field. Teams like the Dodgers can spend lavishly to retain an edge because their ownership group, led by Mark Walter, can keep pouring money into the organization. (A 25-year, $8.35 billion local media rights deal doesn’t hurt.)
The top four teams by 2025 payroll—the Mets, Phillies, Dodgers, and Blue Jays—are all helmed by some of the richest MLB owners.
Topping the list of richest MLB owners is Steve Cohen of the Mets, worth $21.3 billion. In 2020, Cohen paid $2.4 billion to become the team’s majority owner, the highest price ever paid for an MLB team.
Cohen founded S.A.C. Capital Advisors in 1992, building it up to $14 billion in assets under management by 2009. He founded Point72 Asset Management in 2014, which now has $35 billion in assets under management.
Second is Rogers Communications of the Blue Jays, owned by a family trust helmed by CEO Edward Rogers III. The company has a market cap of $19.3 billion as of August 2025, and the family itself has an estimated net worth of $9 billion.
Rogers Communications bought an 80% stake of the Blue Jays in 2000 for $110 million ($201.2 million adjusted for inflation) and purchased the team’s home stadium in 2004, renaming it from the SkyDome to Rogers Centre. Rogers III has been the chairman of the Blue Jays since 2015, playing a major role in the team’s strategic direction and hiring of executives.
In third is the Illitch family. Marian Illitch co-founded Little Caesars Pizza with her late husband, Mike. The lifelong Michigan residents got into sports ownership in 1982, purchasing the Detroit Red Wings for a cool $8 million. Ten years later, Mike Illitch bought the Tigers from Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan for $85 million. The Tigers are now owned by a family trust.
Fourth is the Lerner family, which is worth $6.7 billion. The D.C.-based real estate developers bought the Washington Nationals from Major League Baseball for $450 million in 2006. Though they were looking to sell the club in 2022, the family has since chosen to maintain ownership.
In fifth is Mark Walter of the Dodgers, who has a net worth exceeds $6 billion. His Guggenheim Baseball Management purchased the team—along with Dodger Stadium and a 50% stake in real estate owned by the club’s previous owners—for $2.15 billion in 2012 after it fell into bankruptcy. Walter and his fellow owners have spent over $100 million renovating the stadium while putting a winning club on the field; it’s won four National League pennants and two World Series titles since Guggenheim took over. The group also purchased a majority stake in the Lakers from Jeannie Buss at a $10 billion valuation.
Ranking the Richest MLB Owners
Here is the entire list of the Richest MLB owners. The data was compiled through Forbes:
Updated: August 26, 2025
| Rank | Owner | MLB Team | Net Worth |
| 1 | Steve Cohen | New York Mets | $21.3 billion |
| 2 | Rogers Communications | Toronto Blue Jays | $19.3 billion (market cap) |
| 3 | Marian Illitch & family | Detroit Tigers | $6.9 billion |
| 4 | Annette Lerner & family | Washington Nationals | $6.7 billion |
| 5 | Mark Walter | Los Angeles Dodgers | $6.2 billion |
| 6 | John W. Henry | Boston Red Sox | $5.7 billion |
| 7 | Charles B. Johnson & family | San Francisco Giants | $5.5 billion |
| 8 | Arte Moreno | Los Angeles Angels | $5.1 billion |
| T-9 | Joe Ricketts & family | Chicago Cubs | $4.5 billion |
| T-9 | David Rubenstein | Baltimore Orioles | $4.5 billion |
| 11 | John Middleton | Philadelphia Phillies | $4.3 billion |
| 12 | Ray Davis | Texas Rangers | $3.8 billion |
