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The full group buying the Baltimore Orioles at a $1.725 billion valuation was revealed Wednesday, and it features a very big name for the club's fans.
Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. is one of the nine names that were revealed in the Orioles' announcement of the sale by the Angelos family, which was reported Tuesday. The group is led by two billionaires in Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein and Ares Management co-founder Michael Arougheti, with Rubenstein the controlling owner.
In addition to Ripken, other shareholders include NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill, former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg and former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke, as well as Michele Kang, Mitchell Goldstein and Michael Smith.
The deal is still pending approval from MLB's other owners. Per previous reports, the new group will acquire 40% control of the Orioles, with the remainder transferring following the death of patriarch Peter Angelos. The Angelos family will reportedly retain a "sizable interest" in the team.
Ripken is the Orioles' all-time leader in games played, hits, home runs and many other statistics. Since his retirement in 2001, the 63-year-old has built a business portfolio that includes the Aberdeen Ironbirds, an Orioles minor-league affiliate.
Ripken signaled his interest in purchasing a stake of the Orioles as far back as 2007. Now he'll be part of the group steering the team with which he, his brother, Billy, and his father, Cal Sr., played or coached for a combined 64 years.
Bringing in Ripken is a good way for a group of billionaires to endear themselves to the fan base, but the team's fans will obviously be wanting more.
The Orioles are being sold at a promising but pivotal time in franchise history. The team is coming off a 2023 season in which it went 101-61, its best record since 1979, and it boasts one of the most impressive collections of young talent in MLB, with young stars such as Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson as well as a farm system led by baseball's top prospect in Jackson Holliday.
At this point, the Orioles' priority will be finding supporting pieces for their young stars and trying to sign them to long-term extensions. The Angelos family earned the fan base's ire with its hesitance to spend in a sport in which payroll size heavily correlates with consistent winning, and now it will be up to the new ownership group to prove that it will do business differently.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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