Chicago-area billionaire Justin Ishbia has dropped his pursuit of the Minnesota Twins, The Athletic has learned, and will instead buy more shares from other limited partners to increase his existing minority stake in the Chicago White Sox.

People with knowledge of the discussions believe that the deal will allow Ishbia to take control of the team at some point by buying the shares of longtime owner Jerry Reinsdorf and other partners. But a White Sox official on Friday night disputed that notion, even though it would be unusual for prospective owners to make significant investments for minority shares without the promise of their stakes growing larger.

“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.”

A representative for Ishbia declined to comment.

The development shocked the Twins, with some officials believing that their ownership situation might be resolved by Opening Day. Now, they’ve been left to scramble in their search for a new owner. The news couldn’t be worse for Twins fans, who dreamed Ishbia would bring a deep wallet and competitive fire to an organization in need, only to see him stay with a division rival.

It was during Ishbia’s pursuit of the Twins that the Reinsdorfs came to him and discussed increasing his share of the White Sox, according to a person briefed on the discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The deal, which is being brokered by Chicago-area investment advisors BDT & MSD Partners, still needs league approval, according to a source briefed on discussions. But another source said that if Justin Ishbia takes control of the White Sox, he would be the lead and his brother Mat would be an investor, the reverse of the arrangement they have in Phoenix, where they own the NBA’s Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury.

White Sox limited partners were recently informed that an investor wanted to buy their shares at a franchise valuation around $1.8 billion, according to people briefed on the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly. While they aren’t required to sell, their stakes would be diluted by this new investor. The deadline for their decision is next Friday.

The Athletic has confirmed the buyer is Ishbia, who had been a limited partner of the team for years. Sportico reported in January that Ishbia and his brother had bought into the Sox limited partnership group four years ago. At the time, as the White Sox were ascendent on the field, Reinsdorf’s two sons, Michael, the president/CEO of the Chicago Bulls, and Jonathan, led a push to buy out the team’s limited partners, albeit at a valuation believed to be about half of what it is now.

Some of the partners sold, but many stuck around for a bigger potential payday. These limited partners can now sell their shares to Ishbia. Per team policy, the White Sox don’t reveal the names of their limited partners.

Ishbia, 47, has an estimated worth of more than $5 billion according to Forbes. Mat Ishbia led their $4 billion purchase of the Suns and Mercury, which was finalized in 2023.

Though the brothers grew up in suburban Detroit, Justin Ishbia is currently building a massive estate in the North Shore suburb Winnetka on the shores of Lake Michigan. He is a founding partner of private equity firm Shore Capital Partners and according to Forbes also has a 22 percent stake in United Wholesale Mortgage, which was founded by Ishbia’s father Jeff and is run by his younger brother Mat, the CEO.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

I'm guessing he's consolidating the limited partners' shares now and will have right of first refusal for the Reinsdorf family's shares when Jerry dies. The idea that old Jews from South Shore or wherever were going to sell the Chicago White Sox to some dudes from Nashville never made sense to me.

Hate to tell ya this "Amigo", but that is sort of the essence of how life works.

You think they’d pass on the opportunity to colonize Nashville?

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

With the A's move turning out to be a complete goatfuck and no one sure what's going on with the Rays, all while the public gets more and more irritated with capricious billionaires messing with their sports, I'm starting to wonder if maybe the powers that be are losing their stomach for killing off the White Sox. I'm all but certain it was a stretch goal for them, knocking off San Francisco and Chicago as two-team markets so it'd only be New York and L.A. like everyone else, but now is really not the time.

At this point I think only White Sox fans want them to kill off the White Sox.

A few times a year, Senor will tell a story about a different person each time that roughly goes like this:

"I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. He's an endocrinologist at the University of Chicago. Lifelong, die-hard White Sox fan. ["I am a die sox...white fan" drop] Yeah no really that's just it though he is. This guy went to Michigan and Princeton and he's a complete shrieking meatball Sox fan. And what he said to me was [sigh] 'it's not the pain of knowing that one day they're going to move that gets me. What really hurts is the pain of knowing that when they do move, the pain I feel every day as a fan of this team will once and for all subside, and then I'll finally be happy. That's what hurts the most.' And to have this...this meta-consciousness about the suffering that the White Sox bring you as a fan, this institution that should bring you joy but only brings you misery, and not even that, but suffering about your suffering, you stop and think that this, more than memories of games or the smell of popcorn or Andy the Clown [Murph Andy MacPhail drop] NO, DIFFERENT CLOWN, DIFFERENT CLOWN, that...[sigh] it's this existential dread that truly runs through generations of Sox fans, and if you're paying attention, it's more than baseball, too."

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

I'm guessing he's consolidating the limited partners' shares now and will have right of first refusal for the Reinsdorf family's shares when Jerry dies. The idea that old Jews from South Shore or wherever were going to sell the Chicago White Sox to some dudes from Nashville never made sense to me.

you mean old europeans who converted to judaism

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

He thinks too deep. It's not misery, it's anger that has melted to apathy. I just don't give a shit. Move, stay, put bacon on a stick, who cares.

Yes it is.

Isn't this the same family currently screwing up the Suns?

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

This does seem like good news. I'm happy that it flies in the face of the Nashville is "a done deal" posts we had earlier this month.

Ishiba's business is based in chicago and he is building a mansion on the north shore.

I won't pretend to know anything about Justin Ishbia, but at this point we can only hope somebody unrelated to Jerry Reinsdorf buy the White Sox. I don't know if a new owner will be an improvement, but he sure cannot do worse.

"Hope is a dangerous thing, my friend. Hope can drive a man insane"

I would slow the roll on this miracle. Don't put it past JR to fuck us one last time.

A new owner can absolutely do worse. Look at Jeffrey Loria or John Fisher.