Frank McCourt (executive)

Last updated

Frank McCourt
Frank McCourt 2016.jpg
McCourt in 2016
Born
Frank H. McCourt Jr.

(1953-08-14) August 14, 1953 (age 71)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater Georgetown University
Occupation(s)Executive Chairman of McCourt Global
Founder & Executive Chairman of Project Liberty
Owner of Olympique Marseille
Owner of Los Angeles Marathon
Former owner of Los Angeles Dodgers
Former owner of Global Champions Tour
Former owner of Miami Celtics
Years active1977–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1979;div. 2011)​
Monica Algarra
​
(m. 2015)​
Children6

Frank H. McCourt Jr. (born August 14, 1953) is an American business executive and philanthropist. [1] [2] As of 2023, he is the executive chairman and former CEO of McCourt Global, [3] owner of the football club Marseille and founder and executive chairman of international non-profit Project Liberty. [3] He was the owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium from 2004 to 2012.

Contents

In 2004, he purchased a controlling interest in the Dodgers from Fox Entertainment Group, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Prior to purchasing the Dodgers and moving to Los Angeles, McCourt was a Boston real estate developer, whose family resided in Brookline, Massachusetts.

In 2013, he donated $100 million to establish the McCourt School of Public Policy, the ninth school of Georgetown University. He made a second $100 million gift to Georgetown University in March 2021, for the express purpose of ensuring that "the McCourt School can open its doors more widely and build a pipeline of future public policy leaders that reflects the true diversity of our communities." [4] [5]

In 2016, he purchased French Ligue 1 football club Olympique Marseille from Russian-born billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus. [6] The takeover was completed in August after months of negotiations. [7]

In 2021, he founded the non-profit Project Liberty. [8] The initiative has multiple components which includes the development of the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), the founding of the McCourt Institute with founding academic partners Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Sciences Po in Paris, and a network of partners within the Unfinished network. [9]

In 2023, he transitioned from CEO of McCourt Global to executive chairman and announced Shéhérazade Semsar de Boisséson, former POLITICO Europe CEO, as McCourt Global's CEO. [3]

In 2024, he announced plans to build a consortium to buy the US arm of TikTok. [10]

Early years and business background

McCourt was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was raised as a Catholic [11] and attended Georgetown University, where he earned an economics degree in 1975. [12] He met his future wife, Jamie Luskin, when they were both freshmen at Georgetown. They married in 1979. [13] The McCourt family has a long association with real estate and construction in the Boston area.

In 1977, McCourt left working for his father's road contracting company and founded The McCourt Company, which specialized in the development of major commercial real estate projects. [14] The McCourt Company developed multiple condominiums in Boston, including the first and most notable development, the Union Wharf Condominium on Boston Harbor. [15] McCourt later purchased a 24-acre plot of the Boston Seaport and played a role in the development of what became the South Boston Seaport District. [14]

The McCourt Company headquarters moved to Los Angeles in 2004 in connection with the family relocating to Los Angeles. The McCourts owned a $16 million, 13,000 sq ft (1,200 m2) home in Brookline, Massachusetts, that was acquired by John W. Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox. [16]

Failed Red Sox bid

Before buying the Los Angeles Dodgers, McCourt made a bid to buy the Boston Red Sox, planning to build a new stadium on the land he owned and used for parking lots on the South Boston waterfront. [17] Instead, the Red Sox were sold in 2002 to John W. Henry, Tom Werner and Red Sox president Larry Lucchino.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Purchase of the L.A. Dodgers

In 2004, McCourt bought the Los Angeles Dodgers for US$430 million from News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's flagship enterprise. [18] McCourt's purchase of the Dodgers was financed mostly by debt.

In 2004, McCourt's South Boston parking lot property was used as collateral for some of the financing to acquire the Dodgers from NewsCorp. Later, the South Boston property was turned over to NewsCorp in exchange for canceling acquisition debt. [13] NewsCorp received approximately $200 million when they re-sold the property to Morgan Stanley and Boston real estate investor John B. Hynes III in 2006. [19]

Frank McCourt in 2010 Mccourt.jpg
Frank McCourt in 2010

The Dodgers assets acquired by McCourt included significant real estate assets related to the stadium in Chavez Ravine, including stadium parking lot land. Plans were announced for new real estate developments at Dodger Stadium however those plans never came to fruition. One discussed plan was for an NFL stadium and adjacent retail complex. However after the Boston Herald reported the details of the plan, political pressure forced both the NFL and McCourt to deny that either party was aggressively pursuing the idea. [20]

To offset the purchase, McCourt raised ticket and concession prices every year. [21] By April 2009, the team and its related assets, in which McCourt had invested heavily in improvements, had increased in value to $722 million according to Forbes . [22] [23] In 2010, the value of the team was estimated at $727 million according to Forbes. [24]

Hiring and firing of Paul DePodesta

In 2003, under NewsCorp ownership, the Dodgers' record was 85 wins and 77 losses. Shortly after purchasing the team, McCourt fired then general manager Dan Evans, replacing him with Paul DePodesta. DePodesta is featured (along with Billy Beane) in the book Moneyball , as it discussed their sabermetric-based approach to using statistics to build the Oakland A's. In Los Angeles, DePodesta made a trade in the middle of the 2004 season that sent the Dodgers' starting catcher, Paul Lo Duca, its set-up man, pitcher Guillermo Mota and outfielder Juan Encarnación to the Florida Marlins for the high on-base percentage first baseman Hee-Seop Choi, power pitcher Brad Penny and pitching prospect Bill Murphy, who was in turn flipped with Koyie Hill and Reggie Abercrombie to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Gold Glove center fielder Steve Finley and catcher Brent Mayne. At the time, DePodesta said of Choi: "I think we've acquired one of the better offensive players in the league." [25]

Finley hit 13 home runs for the Dodgers in his two months with the team. Choi batted .161 with no home runs for the Dodgers after the trade, though he walked eleven times in 87 plate appearances. In the playoff loss to St. Louis that season, Penny did not play, Choi had one at bat (hitless) and Dodger catchers were 3-for-10. [26]

In 2004, the Dodgers won the NL West with a record of 93-69, but lost in four games to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Divisional Series. In the offseason, the Dodgers decided not to re-sign Adrián Beltré due to his high contract demands (Beltre finished second in the NL MVP voting and would later sign with Seattle for 5 years/$64 million). [27] DePodesta signed outfielder J. D. Drew for five years at $55 million, [28] sinkerball pitcher Derek Lowe for four years at $36 million, [29] and All-Star second baseman Jeff Kent.

However, the 2005 season, with a record of 71– 91, was the Dodgers' second-worst record since moving to Los Angeles, due in part to players' injuries. That off-season, manager Jim Tracy was fired. Soon after Tracy was fired, McCourt fired DePodesta and about a month later, hired Ned Colletti to replace him.

Ned Colletti/Joe Torre era

Ned Colletti's first action as GM was the signing of the former Red Sox manager, Grady Little. Colletti then signed several veteran players such as Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Kenny Lofton and Bill Mueller. These players were among those who led the 2006 Dodgers to the NL Wild Card spot, with an 88–74 record. The Dodgers were swept by the New York Mets in the National League Division Series. In the winter of 2006–07 the team signed Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Luis Gonzalez.

In October 2007, Grady Little resigned and Joe Torre was hired as their new manager. In 2008, with Torre, Ned Colletti signed Andruw Jones, Hiroki Kuroda and Chan Ho Park. During the trade deadline, the Dodgers acquired Manny Ramirez in a trade with the Boston Red Sox.

In 2007, Dr. Charles Steinberg was hired as executive vice president, marketing and public relations, of the Dodgers after working with the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. In 2009, he was reported to be on his way out and was said to be allied with Jamie McCourt and had lost influence as she did, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times . [30] [31]

Dodgers' Dream Foundation

In 2010, it was revealed that then California Attorney General Jerry Brown was opening an investigation into the Dodgers' charitable foundation, the Dodgers' Dream Foundation. According to tax returns, the charity's chief executive, Howard Sunkin, earned a salary of nearly $400,000 per year, almost a quarter of the foundation's entire budget. [32] Sunkin is a close associate of McCourt and has worked with him during his divorce proceedings. [33] The courts eventually awarded the funds to be repaid, and McCourt personally repaid $100,000. [34]

Divorce proceedings

On October 14, 2009, it was announced the McCourts would be separating after nearly 30 years of marriage. [35] While speculation was raised on the impact upon the McCourt family and Dodger ownership, a spokesperson for Jamie McCourt said the following day that "the focus of the Dodgers is on the playoffs and the World Series." Jamie was fired from her position as Dodgers CEO on Thursday, October 22, 2009, the day after the Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs. [35] She officially filed for divorce shortly thereafter. He has claimed that the divorce has "no bearing on the team whatsoever." [36]

On December 7, 2010, the judge in the divorce case of the McCourts invalidated the post-nuptial marital property agreement ("MPA") that Frank McCourt had claimed provided him with sole ownership of the Dodgers. In the wake of this decision, Frank McCourt's lawyers said that Frank would use other legal avenues to establish his sole ownership of the Dodgers, while Jamie McCourt's lawyers said that Jamie would be confirmed as the co-owner of the team as community property of their marriage. [37]

On June 17, 2011, the McCourts reached agreement on a settlement of their divorce. The settlement was contingent upon Major League Baseball approving a 17-year television contract between the Dodgers and Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket. The discussion set aside the Dodgers' ownership issue until a scheduled one-day trial on August 4, whereupon if the judge sided with Frank he would keep the team and pay a settlement fee to Jamie and if the judge sided with her the team would be sold. [38] However, on June 20, baseball rejected the television deal and the settlement agreement fell apart. [39]

On October 17, 2011, the McCourts reached a settlement in their divorce case, whereby Jamie would receive about $130 million and relinquish her claim on the Dodgers. This ended what is widely believed to be the costliest divorce in California history. [40]

Ownership dispute with Major League Baseball: Bankruptcy and sale of the Dodgers

In April 2011, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig announced that as part of an MLB investigation into McCourt's stewardship of the Dodgers, he would be appointing a representative to oversee the team's day-to-day operations. In effect, the commissioner's office seized control of the team. His statement said that he took that action because of his "deep concerns for the finances and operations" of the Dodgers. [41] This event occurred shortly after an LA Times report that McCourt had obtained a personal loan from Fox to cover the team's payroll for April and May. McCourt vigorously disputed MLB's actions. Nevertheless, Selig appointed former diplomat and former Texas Rangers executive Tom Schieffer to oversee the Dodgers' finances. On June 27, the Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. [42]

After much legal wrangling between McCourt's lawyers and MLB lawyers in bankruptcy court, he reached a deal with the league to put the team up for sale. [43] On March 27, 2012, he agreed to sell the team to a group consisting of former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson, former baseball executive Stan Kasten and the Guggenheim Partners for a record price of $2 billion, the highest ever for a professional sports team. [44] McCourt separately sold the land surrounding the stadium for $150 million to the same group, while maintaining some economic interest in the property. According to the Guggenheim Group, McCourt has no control or influence over the land, but will profit from potential future development of it. Also, the new ownership pays $14 million to rent the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium from an entity half-owned by McCourt. [45] The sale officially closed on May 1, 2012, ending McCourt's turbulent period as Dodgers owner. [46]

Los Angeles Marathon

In 2008, McCourt bought the operating rights to the Los Angeles Marathon. [47] McCourt's group changed the route of the Marathon so that it would start at Dodger Stadium. His "Stadium to the Sea" course revitalized the Marathon and in 2010 it drew the largest field in the history of the race. [48] During his divorce, he briefly considered selling the Marathon, [49] but he chose to retain the rights and refocus on the race. [50]

McCourt announced in 2019 that he would donate the Los Angeles Marathon and parent company Conqur Endurance to The McCourt Foundation, a Boston-based philanthropic organization overseen by his cousin, Brian McCourt. The vision for combining the entities was to catalyze the social impact potential of both organizations by creating a bicoastal portfolio of events that promote healthier communities. [51] The McCourt Foundation is "dedicated to enhancing the lives of patients and families affected by health-challenges within the neurology community and beyond," and hosts several endurance sport events to raise funds and awareness for neurological health. [52]

Global Champions Tour

In 2014, McCourt bought 50% of the Global Champions Tour. [53]

In 2017, Frank and Monica McCourt founded a show jumping team, the Miami Celtics.

In March 2022, Jan Tops acquired McCourt's share and once again became the sole owner of Global Champions Tour. McCourt franchised the equestrian show jumping team Miami Celtics team for the 2022 spring season. [54]

Olympique de Marseille

On August 29, 2016, McCourt entered exclusive negotiations to purchase the French Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille from Margarita Louis-Dreyfus. [55] The purchase deal was completed for an undisclosed price tag of around €50 million on October 17, 2016. He pledged to invest €200 million in the club over the next four years. Upon his arrival at Marseille, he appointed Jacques-Henri Eyraud, a former director of communications of the Euro Disney group, as the new president of the club. On October 20, Rudi Garcia was officially appointed new coach and a week later Andoni Zubizarreta new sports director. [56] [57]

For the first transfer window in the McCourt era in January 2017, Marseille reinforced the team with the purchase of Dimitri Payet, Patrice Evra, Morgan Sanson and Grégory Sertic, for a total of around €45M.

In 2021, McCourt came out publicly against the proposed European Super League. [58] In an op-ed in newspaper Le Monde , he drew a direct parallel between the opaque centralization of power in both the domains of football and technology, stating that: "We need to think of our institutions not as purely profit-seeking enterprises designed to funnel money and influence to a monopolistic private few, but as part of a larger ecosystem that impacts the public good." [59]

Project Liberty

In 2021, McCourt announced $100 million funding for a non-profit initiative called Project Liberty, with the intention to "construct a new internet infrastructure." [8] [60] The investment first went into funding the development of Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), which is an open source code that developers can use to build social apps and services. [61] It also included the founding of a "digital governance" institution called McCourt Institute at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Sciences Po in Paris, to support research on "technology that serves the common good" [8] and public discussions [9] that aim to "influence the direction taken by technology and its players," according to McCourt in an interview with Usbek & Rica. [62] The effort has a multi-track approach, beyond the focus on technology in the beginning; it is building on other components including governance, policy, and movement. [9] [63]

In 2022, McCourt appointed Martina Larkin as Project Liberty's first CEO. [3]

Technology

McCourt founded Unfinished, and Amplica Labs [64] (formerly known as Unfinished Labs), its technology research and development arm, in 2020. The first project of Amplica Labs—the introduction of the open-source Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP)—became the foundation of Project Liberty. [65]

MeWe, a social media platform that describes itself as being privacy-focused, became the first platform to pledge support by migrating its platform to DSNP in September 2022. [66] [9]

McCourt Institute

In June 2021, Frank McCourt announced the creation of the McCourt Institute as the newest branch of Unfinished. [67] The two foundational partners of the institute are Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and Sciences Po in Paris. [68]

The McCourt Institute building was unveiled at Sciences Po in March 2022, on the occasion of the university's 150th anniversary. [62]

At the McCourt Institute's inaugural event on Sciences Po's campus, [69] McCourt announced the funding of $2.3 million to Georgetown and Sciences Po faculty to select grantees, furthering scholarship from Georgetown specialists in digital governance. [70] Georgetown later announced the 2022 recipients of grantees, including 28 researchers and 17 projects. [71]

The McCourt Institute also provided funding for Frances Haugen's nonprofit, Beyond the Screen, as Haugen announced at Unfinished Live 2022. [72] [73] Haugen received funding from Project Liberty for a "Duty of Care" initiative, aimed at studying harms and identifying practices to deter them. [3]

Unfinished

Unfinished Network

Unfinished is an organization that focuses on bringing together a network of partners that includes nonprofits and advocacy organizations, [74] and hosts events, including Unfinished Live and Unfinished Camp which took place in Venice in April 2022, [75] to support Project Liberty goals.

Unfinished Live

The first initiative of the Unfinished Network was Unfinished Live, a four-episode digital event series which debuted in 2020. [74]

The second annual Unfinished Live was held in-person in New York City from September 23–25, 2021. The event theme was "The Future is Decentralized". [76] The event was hosted at The Shed, a cultural center in Manhattan which Frank McCourt donated $45 million to at its inception. [77] The event was a convening of Unfinished's network partners and speakers that included journalists, technologists, and artists, together with host Baratunde Thurston. [78] The event included a free public exhibit by artist Refik Anadol, titled "Project Liberty Experience" after the founding initiative of Unfinished. [79] The exhibit intended audiences to "experience a world where you own and control your data." [80]

In September 2022, Unfinished hosted the third annual event in New York City. It once again hosted a "Project Liberty Experience," an immersive installation by artist Refik Anadol. [80] The three day event took place September 22–24, 2022, with an additional "Day Zero" event on September 21 [81] which included the convening of a Student Assembly consisting of participants—15 from Sciences Po in Paris and 15 from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.—who were selected from more than 550 applicants. [82]

Land development

Entities affiliated with McCourt Partners submitted plans to the City of Los Angeles in 2023 for several apartment complexes in the Chinatown neighborhood adjacent to Dodger Stadium. [83]

Personal life

McCourt's grandfather was part-owner of the Boston Braves along with Lou Perini and others. Inspired by his grandfather and the others' formation of the Jimmy Fund, [84] McCourt started ThinkCure to fight cancer. [85]

McCourt was formerly married to Jamie McCourt. In 2015, McCourt was married to Monica Algarra. McCourt has six children.

McCourt owns homes in Mashpee and Cotuit, Massachusetts. [86]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Dodgers</span> Major League Baseball franchise in Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Established in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the team joined the NL in 1890 as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and used several other monikers before finally settling on the name Dodgers in 1932. From the 1940s through the mid-1950s, the Dodgers developed a fierce crosstown rivalry with the New York Yankees as the two clubs faced each other in the World Series seven times, with the Dodgers losing the first five matchups before defeating them to win the franchise's first title in 1955. It was also during this period that the Dodgers made history by breaking the baseball color line in 1947 with the debut of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Leagues since 1884. Another major milestone was reached in 1956 when Don Newcombe became the first player ever to win both the Cy Young Award and the NL MVP in the same season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodger Stadium</span> Baseball park in Los Angeles, California

Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of US$23 million. It is the oldest ballpark in MLB west of the Mississippi River, and third-oldest overall, after Fenway Park in Boston (1912) and Wrigley Field in Chicago (1914), and is the largest baseball stadium in the world by seat capacity. Often referred to as a "pitcher's ballpark", the stadium has seen 13 no-hitters, 2 of which were perfect games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hee-seop Choi</span> Korean baseball player (born 1979)

Hee-seop Choi is a South Korean former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, and Los Angeles Dodgers and in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers. He was the first Korean-born position player to play in the major leagues.

<i>Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game</i> 2003 book by Michael Lewis

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is a book by Michael Lewis, published in 2003, about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager Billy Beane. It describes the team's sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team on a small budget. It was adapted into the 2011 film Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Angels</span> Major League Baseball franchise in Anaheim, California

The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team has played its home games at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Marathon</span> Annual race in the United States

The Los Angeles Marathon is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1989. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games hosted in Los Angeles, and has become one of the largest marathons in the country, with more than 25,000 participants, thousands of volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of spectators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodger Dog</span> Hot dog served by the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodger Dog is a hot dog named after the Major League Baseball franchise that sells them, the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is a 10-inch pork wiener wrapped in a steamed bun. The hot dog is sold at Dodger Stadium located in Los Angeles, California. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, the projected number of 2011 season hot dogs sold at Dodger Stadium was 2 million—establishing Dodger Dogs as the leader in hot dog sales of all those sold in Major League Baseball ballparks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul DePodesta</span> American football executive (born 1972)

Paul DePodesta is an American football executive and former baseball executive who is the chief strategy officer of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as a front office assistant for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). DePodesta was also general manager of MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers. He is also known for his appearance in the book and movie Moneyball about his early career as an assistant with the Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ned Colletti</span> American sports executive

Ned Louis Colletti Jr. is an American sports executive with 40 years experience in Major League Baseball, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning baseball analyst, a professor of Sports Administration at Pepperdine University, the author of the best-selling book The Big Chair, and a scout for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. He was general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006 through 2014. Before moving to the Dodgers, he was assistant general manager of the San Francisco Giants. Colletti is one of very few American sports executives to work in two major sports: Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter O'Malley</span> American baseball executive

Peter O'Malley is an American former owner (1979–98) and president (1970–98) of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He currently is a part-owner of the San Diego Padres since 2012.

The 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 116th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 47th season in Los Angeles, California. It brought change to the Dodgers as the sale of the franchise to developer Frank McCourt was finalized during spring training. McCourt promptly dismissed General Manager Dan Evans and hired Paul DePodesta to take over the team. That led to a flurry of trade activity as the new group attempted to rebuild the Dodgers in their image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Los Angeles</span> Competitive physical activities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area

The Greater Los Angeles area is home to many professional and collegiate sports teams and has hosted many national and international sporting events. The metropolitan area has twelve major league professional teams:the Los Angeles Dodgers the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Rams, the Los Angeles Angels, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles FC, the LA Galaxy, the Los Angeles Kings, the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Sparks, and Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League. The Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to nine universities whose teams compete in various NCAA Division I level sports, most notably the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Between them, these Los Angeles area sports teams have won a combined 105 championship titles. Los Angeles area colleges have produced upwards of 200 national championship teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 National League Championship Series</span> Baseball championship series

The 2009 National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a best-of-seven baseball game series pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Philadelphia Phillies for the National League Championship and the right to represent the National League in the 2009 World Series. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers four games to one. Los Angeles, whose NL-best 95–67 record topped Philadelphia's 93–69 record, retained home-field advantage. The series, the 40th in league history, began on October 15 and finished on October 21. TBS carried the championship on television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie McCourt</span> American diplomat, attorney, & executive (born 1953)

Jamie D. McCourt is the former United States Ambassador to France and Monaco who served from 2017 to 2021. She was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in on November 2, 2017. Ambassador McCourt is also the United States Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe. McCourt is the founder and CEO of Jamie Enterprises and a former executive of the Los Angeles Dodgers. She became the highest-ranking woman in Major League Baseball, appointed first as vice chairman of the Dodgers in 2004, then president in 2005, and finally CEO in 2009.

The history of the Los Angeles Dodgers begins in the 19th century when the team was based in Brooklyn, New York.

The 2011–12 Los Angeles Dodgers ownership dispute was a period of turmoil at the management level of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, which began when Major League Baseball (MLB) seized control of the team from owner Frank McCourt on April 20, 2011. The following dispute over ownership of the franchise was not resolved until the team was sold to new owners one year later, on May 1, 2012.

Guggenheim Baseball Management is the ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team. The consortium consisted of Guggenheim controlling partner Mark Walter, and also includes as investors basketball hall of famer Magic Johnson, movie producer Peter Guber, baseball team executive Stan Kasten, and investors Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly. Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss joined the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group in 2018. Entrepreneurs Alan Smolinisky and Robert L. Plummer joined the ownership group in September 2019.

The 1961 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the formation of two new Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises in the American League (AL). A new club was started in Washington, D.C., and took the existing name of the Senators, as the previous team of the same name moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul for the start of the 1961 season and became the Minnesota Twins. The second new franchise was granted to an ownership group led by Gene Autry for a team in Los Angeles who named themselves the Angels. The two new teams each paid a fee of $2.1 million and became the 17th and 18th franchises in MLB.

Over the 20-year absence of the National Football League from Los Angeles many proposals were made for stadiums that would attract an NFL team to the Los Angeles Area. The trend began in 1995 when a stadium planned to be built in Hollywood Park was rejected by Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis in favor of relocating back to Oakland, California due to a stipulation that he would have had to share the stadium with a future second team.

References

  1. ↑ Bobrow, Emily (October 8, 2021). "Frank McCourt Wants to Build a New Model for Social Media". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Frank McCourt". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. February 10, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Another Billionaire's Plan to Rebuild Social Media". Time. November 21, 2022.
  4. ↑ Anderson, Nick (March 26, 2021). "Georgetown alum pledges second $100 million gift to public policy school". Washington Post. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Frank McCourt Announces Bold $100 Million Investment to Build Inclusive Pipeline of Policy Leaders, Reduce Tuition Barriers at Georgetown University's McCourt School". PRNewswire (Press release). Cision. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Formers Dodgers owner Frank McCourt completes takeover of Marseille". ESPN . October 17, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Frank McCourt completes purchase of Marseille, pledges return to glory". Sports Illustrated . October 17, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "A Real Estate Mogul Has a $100 Million Plan to Save the Internet". Bloomberg. June 20, 2021 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Davenport, Tom. "Transforming The Internet With Project Liberty". Forbes.
  10. ↑ "Tech critic McCourt mounts TikTok bid | Semafor". www.semafor.com. May 15, 2024. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  11. ↑ Hall, Carla (August 23, 2010). "A baseball love story veers off the base paths". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodgers Executives". Losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com. January 29, 2004. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  13. 1 2 "Los Angeles Business Journal, January 5, 2009". Allbusiness.com. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  14. 1 2 Curran, Karen (April 5, 1998). "For McCourts, waterfront parcel is all about family". The Boston Globe. p. 90. Retrieved October 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Yudis, Anthony J. (July 17, 1977). "A new life for historic Union Wharf". The Boston Globe. p. 125. Retrieved October 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Shaughnessy, Dan (October 1, 2008). "For Sox owner Henry, the joy comes daily". The Boston Globe.
  17. ↑ Cafardo, Nick (June 12, 2005). "McCourt Far from Blue". Boston Globe . Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  18. ↑ "Vote will be taken today". ESPN.com. January 27, 2004. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  19. ↑ Palmer Jr, Thomas C. (September 1, 2006). "Hynes, Morgan Stanley buy 23 acres of Boston waterfront". The Boston Globe.
  20. ↑ Shaikin, Bill (January 18, 2012). "Frank McCourt might keep Dodger Stadium parking lots". Los Angeles Times .
  21. ↑ "MLB Team Valuations 2005". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 11, 2006.
  22. ↑ "#4 Los Angeles Dodgers". Forbes. April 22, 2009.
  23. ↑ "#4 Los Angeles Dodgers – Forbes.com". Forbes. April 16, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodger – Forbes rank 2010". Forbes.com. April 7, 2010. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  25. ↑ Shaikin, Bill (August 4, 2004). "DePodesta Didn't Overlook Choi". Los Angeles Times .
  26. ↑ "2004 League Division Series". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Beltre gets 5-year deal day after Sexson signs – MLB – ESPN". ESPN. December 16, 2004. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Dodgers move quickly after killing Unit deal – MLB – ESPN". ESPN. December 22, 2004. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  29. ↑ Gurnick, Ken (January 12, 2005). "Durable Lowe completes LA staff". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007.
  30. ↑ Elliott, Helene; Shaikin, Bill (October 15, 2009). "Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, wife Jamie separate". Los Angeles Times .
  31. ↑ "Dodgers name Dr. Charles Steinberg Executive Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations" (Press release). Losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com. November 27, 2007. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  32. ↑ Thomas, Katie (August 31, 2010). "Practices of Dodgers' Charity Are Said to Be Under Scrutiny". newyorktimes.com. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  33. ↑ Thomas, Katie (July 8, 2010). "Questions Arise About Executive's Pay at Dodgers Charity". newyorktimes.com. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  34. ↑ "Dodgers owner Frank McCourt repaid funds to a team charity". Los Angeles Times. June 22, 2011.
  35. 1 2 Brown, Tim (October 15, 2009). "Dodgers owner separating from wife/team CEO – MLB – Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  36. ↑ Ken Gurnick (January 14, 2010). "McCourt: Divorce won't affect Dodgers". Losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  37. ↑ "Dodgers in limbo after judge throws out McCourt property agreement" L.A. Times, December 7, 2010, by Bill Shaikin and Carla Hall
  38. ↑ "McCourts reach divorce settlement". Archived from the original on June 21, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  39. ↑ "Commish: TV deal not in Dodgers' best interests". Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  40. ↑ "Frank and Jamie McCourt reach settlement involving Dodgers". Los Angeles Times. October 17, 2011.
  41. ↑ "Selig: MLB taking over operation of Dodgers". ESPN.com. April 20, 2011.
  42. ↑ "Dodgers file for bankruptcy protection". ESPN.com. June 27, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  43. ↑ "Frank McCourt agrees to sell Dodgers". Los Angeles Times. November 2, 2011.
  44. ↑ "Dodgers sold to Magic Johnson group". ESPN.com. March 27, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  45. ↑ Shaikin, Bill (May 4, 2012). "Dodgers' owners to pay $14 million a year to rent parking lots from McCourt entity". Los Angeles Times.
  46. ↑ "Dodgers sale closes; McCourt era ends". Los Angeles Times. May 1, 2012.
  47. ↑ "Frank McCourt buys the rights to the LA Marathon". Run to Win. Associated Press. September 26, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  48. ↑ "Learn more about the 27 years of the ASICS LA Marathon". Archived from the original on March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  49. ↑ "Frank McCourt entertains offers for the Los Angeles Marathon". Los Angeles Times. November 4, 2011.
  50. ↑ Reavis, Toni (March 28, 2012). "DODGER'S SALE POTENTIAL WINDFALL FOR LA MARATHON".
  51. ↑ Chesto, Jon (May 10, 2019). "The rights to the LA Marathon will be owned by a Boston charity". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  52. ↑ "The McCourt Foundation - Home". The McCourt Foundation. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  53. ↑ Dilbeck, Steve (June 23, 2014). "Frank McCourt buys into the elite with European horse-jumping tour". Los Angeles Times .
  54. ↑ "Jan Tops is again the sole owner of the Longines Global Champions Tour and League". Equnews International.
  55. ↑ "Former Dodgers owner McCourt to buy French soccer team". New York Times. August 29, 2016.
  56. ↑ "Marseille: Frank McCourt promises £180m investment after buying Ligue 1 club". BBC. October 17, 2016.
  57. ↑ "Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt quickly makes moves after purchasing Marseille". Los Angeles Times. October 21, 2016.
  58. ↑ de la Merced, Michael (April 26, 2021). "What went wrong with the Super League". New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  59. ↑ McCourt, Frank (April 26, 2021). "Frank McCourt : « Au-delà de la Super Ligue, la richesse et le pouvoir ne peuvent être captés par une élite autoprotégée »". Le Monde. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  60. ↑ "McCourt: We've let technology be used in 'unhealthy ways'". finance.yahoo.com.
  61. ↑ Sullivan, Mark (September 23, 2021). "This billionaire is pouring $100M into a decentralized Facebook alternative". Fast company. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  62. 1 2 "À Sciences Po, un nouveau lieu pour penser le futur d'Internet". usbeketrica.com.
  63. ↑ "Actors' views: Frank McCourt". January 10, 2023.
  64. ↑ "Project Liberty Labs". Project Liberty. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  65. ↑ Frier, Sarah (June 20, 2021). "A Real Estate Mogul Has a $100 Million Plan to Save the Internet". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  66. ↑ Fischer, Sara (September 20, 2022). "Facebook alternative MeWe to join Project Liberty protocol". Axios.
  67. ↑ "Civic Entrepreneur Frank McCourt Launches Project Liberty, Transformational New Initiative To Enable Healthier, More Equitable Online Economy". PRNewswire. June 21, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  68. ↑ Madelaine, Nicolas (June 20, 2021). "The owner of OM invests $100 million for an Internet that serves the citizens". Les Echos. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  69. ↑ "McCourt Institute Inaugural Event: The Future of Tech Governance".
  70. ↑ Jackson, Mariel (March 10, 2022). "Georgetown awards $2.3M in first round of research grants through partnership with McCourt Institute".
  71. ↑ "Georgetown Faculty Receive $2.3 Million in Research Grants from the McCourt Institute". March 18, 2022.
  72. ↑ Buisson, Alexis (September 25, 2022). "" Mark Zuckerberg est entouré de gens qui lui mentent "". Le Point.
  73. ↑ Dang, Sheila (September 22, 2022). "Facebook whistleblower launches nonprofit to solve social media harms". Reuters– via www.reuters.com.
  74. 1 2 "An Unfinished Beginning". Aspen Institute. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  75. ↑ "Unfinished Camp Convenes Artists and Technologists at Opening Week of Venice Biennale to Explore a Better Digital Future". www.yahoo.com.
  76. ↑ "Unfinished Live - The Future Is Decentralized". Unfinished Live.
  77. ↑ Prince, Daisy (April 3, 2018). "Billionaire Frank McCourt Makes $45 Million Donation to Manhattan Cultural Institution". Barron's.
  78. ↑ "Unfinished Live". at.theshed.org. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  79. ↑ "The Project Liberty Experience". theshed.org. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  80. 1 2 "Project Liberty Experience, Featuring Refik Anadol". The Shed. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  81. ↑ "Unfinished Live 2022". live.unfinished.com.
  82. ↑ O'Brien, Falyn (October 19, 2022). "McCourt community explores the collision of technology, art, ideas and impact".
  83. ↑ Sharp, Steven (March 15, 2023). "Frank McCourt plans two more apartment complexes near Dodger Stadium". Urbanize LA. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  84. ↑ "McCourt's giving it his all - The Boston Globe". www.boston.com.
  85. ↑ "Home". ThinkCure!. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  86. ↑ Happy Days - New England Golf & LeisureNew England Golf & Leisure; retrieved May 3, 2017.
Business positions
Preceded by Chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers
2004–2012		Succeeded by
Preceded by Owner of Olympique de Marseille
2016 – present		Current holder
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.