Chicago billionaire increasing minority White Sox stake could signal end of Jerry Reinsdorf

Chicago White Sox fans hoping that the team will be sold and thus ending owner Jerry Reinsdorf's overall terrible tenure as owner may soon be getting their wish.

The Athletic's Jon Greenberg is reporting that Chicago-area billionaire Justin Ishbia is abandoning his pursuit of purchasing the Minnesota Twins. Instead, he is now focusing on increasing his minority stake in the Chicago White Sox with the intent of someday assuming majority control.

Although a White Sox official did tell Greenberg that long-term control of the club has not been discussed when it comes to Ishbia's offer to buyout Jerry's limited partners.

“Similar to an opportunity in 2021, White Sox limited partners have received an offer from a third party to purchase their shares in the team, providing liquidity for the limited partners on their long-term investment in the club,” White Sox vice-president of communications Scott Reifert said. “This offer to limited partners has no impact on the leadership or operations of the Chicago White Sox and does not provide a path to control.”

Justin Ishbia, along with his brother Mat, are the ideal people to buy the White Sox.

First, they quietly bought into the Sox ownership group back in 2021. So, they likely know about all the dysfunction within the Sox organization.

Outside of winning the 2005 World Series, Reinsdorf leadership of franchise has been so poor that the team finally bottomed out with a record 121 losses in 2024.

Second, they are wealthy enough to easily afford the payrolls necessary to compete for championships--something Jerry has loathed to do.

Justin is estimated to be worth $5.1 billion according to Forbes. While his brother Mat, is estimated to be worth around $9.4 billion.

They currently co-own the Phoenix Suns where Mat serves as the majority owner and team governor. While the Suns are not winning a lot of games right now, they have shown they are committed to doing whatever it takes to put a winner on the court.

The hope is they would bring that same commitment to 35th and Shields.

Give Reinsdorf credit for this renewed hope of a future with better owners.

The beleaguered owner saw two billionaires possibly purchasing a division rival. Reinsdorf reportedly swooped in and suggested they purchase up more shares in the White Sox.

Talk about a baller move.

The Minnesota Twins were potentially getting ready to close the deal on the Ishbia's purchasing the club. Now, they are going back to everything being on the table when it comes to the team's ownership.

While the Sox can dispute the Ishbia's intentions, it would not make sense for them to abandon purchasing majority control of a baseball team just for a good parking spot at Rate Field and universal access to all 30 MLB ballparks--the speculated perks that Sox minority shareholders currently receive.

The Sox are going to be sold at some point.

It has been well documented that Reinsdorf has instructed his heirs to keep the Chicago Bulls--the other professional team Jerry owns--and sell the White Sox upon his passing.

Jerry is set to be 89 soon so that day could be coming anytime soon. It is uncomfortable that a man has to die for things to get better on the Southside, but that is the current reality of the franchise.

Maybe, Jerry wants to get out now since he could be feeling the pressure to cash out now rather than wait until his passing. It makes sense for the pioneer of bringing in big bucks through the regional sports network model since cord-cutting has cut into that revenue stream immensely.

The MLB economics model further took a hit when the league and ESPN mutually agreed to opt-out of their national television agreement after this season that was paying $550 million a season. With it being unknown what each team's cut of the national TV revenue will be, maybe it is time Jerry let's someone like the Ishbia's take over.

They are successfully navigating the RSN problem with a theory of taking care of the fan.

"We're not focusing on money," new team owner Mat Ishbia said. "We're focusing on winning, success and taking care of fans, taking care of the community. What happens is you always end up making money. It always works out."

Right now, the Sox new home for regional television broadcasts, the Chicago Sports Network, is still not on Comcast's Xfinity--the largest cable provider in the city. That is certainly going to hurt the team's bottom line.

Since the Ishbia's combined worth is more than Jerry can ever dream, they do not have to worry so much about drawing every dime.

Plus, Reinsdorf's dream of building a new stadium on the 78 has stalled because the days of the public fully funding stadiums are gone. Jerry was hoping he would get the same sweetheart deal he got in the late 1980s that financed the construction of Rate Field.

The landscape has changed, and the state government has told him they are not fronting the bulk of the estimated $1 billion and then some to build a new park on the vacant land known as the 78.

The Ishbia's have the wealth to likely front the bulk of the costs and the taxpayers would likely only be on the hook for infrastructure costs--something state and city leaders have said they would be agreeable to.

This news does not mean Jerry Reinsdorf is done being the owner right now. It does feel like the fans wish of new ownership could be coming sooner rather than later.