Stuart Sternberg
Encyclopedia
Stuart L. Sternberg is a Wall Street investor. He is the principal shareholder of the ownership group that owns the Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...

, and has acted as the team's Managing General Partner since November 2005.

Sternberg was also the original owner of the now-defunct Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. He sold the team back to the league after one season.

Childhood

The youngest of three children, Sternberg was born and raised in the Canarsie
Canarsie, Brooklyn
Canarsie is a neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City, United States. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 18....

 neighborhood of New York's Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 borough to Jewish parents. Sternberg's passion for baseball developed as a child while playing the game in the streets and playgrounds of his neighborhood. One of Sternberg's most cherished memories is of watching Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax
Sanford "Sandy" Koufax is a former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers...

 pitch while attending his first Major League game, with his father, at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...

 in 1965. Sternberg has played in various organized baseball leagues over his lifetime and has coached his two sons' Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...

 teams for five years.

Career in the financial services industry

Sternberg made a fortune in the financial services industry. In 1978, Sternberg began his professional career trading equity options part-time at the American Stock Exchange
American Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...

 while attending St. John's University, where he earned a degree in finance. After college, Sternberg was hired by investment group Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, eventually becoming a partner in the firm before moving to Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...

, retiring from that company as a partner in 2002. He has served on various committees and advisory boards in the financial securities industry.

Purchasing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Sternberg purchased a 48% plurality-share in the previously named Devil Rays (now known as the Tampa Bay Rays) in May 2004 from Vince Naimoli
Vince Naimoli
Vincent J. Naimoli is a businessman, and the first owner of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. -Biography:...

, and took over as Managing General Partner in October 2005. He arranged his bid for controlling interest in the team with fellow Goldman Sachs partner Matthew Silverman
Matthew Silverman
Matthew Silverman is an former investment banker who is currently the President of the Tampa Bay Rays. After graduating cum laude from Harvard and working for Goldman Sachs, he took the position in October 2005 when control of the team transferred to new majority owner Stuart Sternberg.Prior to...

, whom he hired as the team's President. He has remained a low key owner, who currently sees his primary goal with the team as getting their finances in order. He resides in Rye, New York
Rye (city), New York
Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the town of Rye, which is larger than the city. Rye city, formerly the village of Rye, was part of the town until 1942, when it received its charter as a city, the most recent to be issued in New York...

 with his wife and four children.

Interest in buying the New York Mets

In February 2011, an article in Business Insider speculated that Sternberg may be a potential owner of the New York Mets. Two major factors that support theory is that Sternberg is a Mets season ticket holder and that Sternberg has expressed negative feelings about the Rays due to low fan attendance.

Frustrated with the Rays in St. Petersburg

In a June 2011, Tampa Tribune interview he said “I know we can’t sustain ourselves like this. It hasn’t gotten better. If anything, it’s worse. To run a payroll like we do now, basically the second-lowest in baseball, and barely keep our nose above water, we can’t sustain that. Baseball is just not going to stand for it anymore. And they’ll find a place for me. They won’t find a place here though.” He further reiterated his stance and raised the specter of relocation after the Rays were eliminated from the playoffs that season.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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