Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner dies at 97

WASHINGTON — Ted Lerner, the billionaire actual property developer whose household purchased the Washington Nationals in 2006, has died, the crew introduced Monday. He was 97.

A Nationals spokesperson stated Lerner died Sunday of problems from pneumonia at his dwelling in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Lerner’s group bought the Nationals from Major League Baseball in 2006 for $450 million after the crew was moved to the U.S. capital from Montreal, the place it performed for greater than three many years because the Expos. He was managing principal proprietor till ceding that position to son Mark in 2018.

Under the Lerners’ possession, the Nationals went from considered one of baseball’s worst groups of their first a number of seasons in Washington to World Series champions in 2019. The Lerners are also credited with revitalizing town’s Navy Yard space since Nationals Park opened in 2008.

“It is with great sadness that we we announce the passing of Founding Managing Principal Owner Theodore N. Lerner,” the crew stated in an announcement. “The crowning achievement of his family business was bringing baseball back to the city he loved _ and with it, bringing a championship home for the first time since 1924. He cherished the franchise and what it brought to his beloved hometown.”

Last yr, the Lerners started exploring the potential for promoting the crew, which is price $2 billion, in keeping with Forbes, which estimates the household’s web price is $6.6 billion due to the Nationals and Lerner Enterprises, one of many largest property-owning firms within the Washington space.