Stephen Schott is a real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 developer and businessman from California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, best known for his ten-year co-ownership of the Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

.

Early life and career

A resident of the Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...

, Schott attended Bellarmine College Preparatory

Bellarmine College Preparatory

Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, private secondary school located in San Jose, California, USA. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California....

 and before graduating from Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...

 in 1960. Both schools now bear buildings in his name. In 1977, he and several partners formed Citation Builders, a real-estate and residence-development company; in 1988 he bought out his partners' shares, reformed the company as a family-run business, Citation Homes Central, and moved it to Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...

. Despite employing fewer than 25 people, Citation is now one of the largest homebuilders in the state of California, and has been responsible for the construction of over 50,000 individual residences.

Ownership of the Oakland Athletics

To the public eye, Schott is primarily known for his love of baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, which he played in his youth. In 1995

1995 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 1995 season involved the A's finishing 4th in the American League West with a record of 67 wins and 77 losses.-Offseason:* November 8, 1994: José Ortiz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Athletics.-Regular season:...

, he and partner Ken Hofmann

Ken Hofmann

Kenneth Harry Hofmann is a builder, real estate developer and philanthropist who is best known for being the former owner of both the Seattle Seahawks and the Oakland Athletics....

 purchased the Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

 from the Walter A. Haas, Jr.

Walter A. Haas, Jr.

Walter A. Haas, Jr. was a president and CEO and chairman of Levi Strauss & Co, succeeding his father Walter A. Haas. He led the company in its growth from a regional manufacturer and wholesaler of work clothes to one of the world’s leading apparel companies...

 estate. Under their patronage, general manager Billy Beane

Billy Beane

William Lamar "Billy" Beane III is a former Major League Baseball player and the current general manager and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics...

's novel management and player-procurement strategies allowed the A's to place highly in post-season playoffs on unimaginably small budgets. Beane's approach to obtaining success within Schott's constraints was documented in Michael Lewis's book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

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. Its focus is the team's modernized, analytical, sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team, despite...

. Schott and Hofmann sold the A's to their current owners, a group of Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 real estate developers headed by Lewis Wolff

Lewis Wolff

Lewis N. Wolff is an American real estate developer. Wolff is also known for owning sports franchises; he is currently the co-owner of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball and the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer...

, in 2005

2005 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 2005 season involved the A's finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses.The A's started 17-32, but went on a hot streak to find themselves battling for first place by mid-August...

. This was not the end of his public career, however.

Life and career after Major League Baseball

In 2003, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...

 began to develop plans to build a new baseball field, allowing their nationally-recognized soccer team unrestricted access to pre-existing Buck Shaw Stadium

Buck Shaw Stadium

Buck Shaw Stadium is a 10,300-seat soccer stadium at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. The stadium is the current home of the Santa Clara Broncos soccer teams and was the former home of the now defunct Santa Clara football team as well as the Santa Clara baseball team. The baseball...

. The project floundered under lack of funds until Schott donated USD $4 million, over half the stadium's total cost. The resulting facility—the Stephen Schott Stadium

Stephen Schott Stadium

Stephen Schott Stadium, or Schott Stadium for short, is the home of the Santa Clara University baseball team, a Division I Baseball team of the NCAA's West Coast Conference...

 — opened April 30, 2005, with a game against Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is named after the young Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga...

.

Personal life

Stephen Schott and his wife Pat have three children, including son Stephen Schott Jr. who is slated to take over the Citation Homes business. Reclusive by nature, Schott avoids the public eye, and a true estimate of his total net worth has not been released.

External links

• Citation Homes: official site