In 2003, Middleton bought all shares in the family company from his mother and sisters. [9] In 2007, Middleton sold John Middleton Co. to Altria, the parent of Phillip Morris USA, for $2.9 billion. [10] In 2015 litigation was filed by Middleton’s sister, disputing declared company assets from 2003, which was settled out of court for $22 million in 2018. [9] [11]
Middleton is the president of Bradford Holdings, the parent company whose subsidiaries have included John Middleton Inc., Double Play Inc. (the corporate entity that holds his stake in the Phillies) and McIntosh Inns. [4]
Philadelphia Phillies
Middleton bought a 15 percent stake in the Phillies for $18 million in 1994. [12] He has been elected chairman of its partners’ Advisory Board annually since 1998.
When Phillies' chairman David Montgomery took a medical leave of absence in 2014, Middleton assumed a more active role, overseeing on-field and business performance, and increased his shareholding to 48 percent. [13] In 2015, Middleton became the public face of the Phillies' ownership group. Middleton committed that the Phillies would have a greater focus on analytics. [14] [15] [16]
At the November 2016 MLB owners’ meeting, Middleton was elected the Phillies’ control person by the thirty clubs, making him the primary person accountable to the commissioner's office for the Phillies' operations and compliance with MLB rules. [17] [12]
Since the Phillies had not made the playoffs since 2011, Middleton recognized it was time for a change. In December 2020, Middleton contacted Dave Dombrowski, a two-time World Series champion executive. Together, they created a deal, and Middleton hired him as the Phillies’ president of baseball operations. [18] [19]
In February 2021, he became one of eight members of Major League Baseball’s Executive Council, and served a four-year term, leaving the role in February 2025. [20] [21]
In November 2024, Middleton announced that three new investors would be added to the team’s ownership group and his family would be contributing additional funds. [22] [23] Also in 2024, Middleton took on a leadership role, in partnership with Comcast Spectacor, to execute a development initiative for the South Philadelphia sports complex. [24]
Support of Dick Allen
For several years, Middleton pushed for the recognition of famed Phillies player Dick Allen, whom he had admired since childhood, in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2020, Middleton guided the Hall of Fame to break tradition and retire Allen’s number while the player was still alive. Before Allen’s 2025 posthumous Baseball Hall of Fame induction, Middleton spoke of Allen’s strong ethics following racism and criticism during his career. [25] [26] [27]
