SAN DIEGO — Before Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano took the stage for their formal introduction as the San Diego Padres’ new controlling owners, they made an entrance set to music. “We All In,” an up-tempo dance track written and performed by Jones, rang through the Petco Park auditorium — a personal anthem inspired by the couple’s initial meetings with Padres CEO Erik Greupner and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller earlier this year.
Three days after closing on their record-setting acquisition, Jones and Feliciano backed their theatrical arrival with unambitious declarations.
“We need to win the World Series,” Feliciano stated. “It’s that simple. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Jones followed immediately: “I think of a legacy as what you live. In addition to winning a World Series — and in fact, multiples, though we’ve got to get one first — the legacy that I anticipate we will be leaving and living is one where everything is elevated in San Diego, in the Baja communities, with the Padres organization.”
The married couple radiated energy throughout their inaugural press conference as principal owners. Their purchase, valued at approximately $1.7 billion for the franchise at an MLB-record $3.9 billion valuation, arrived during the most prosperous era in team history — yet San Diego continues to chase its first championship.
While offering few specifics, Feliciano and Jones pledged to honor the legacy of Peter Seidler, the late owner who galvanized the fan base by twice sustaining a top-five payroll despite operating in the league’s smallest television market.
“The impossible becomes possible when somebody does it,” said Feliciano, who becomes MLB’s second Latino controlling owner. “So let’s do it.”
The new ownership group brings substantial resources. Feliciano, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $3.9 billion, is a co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital, the Santa Monica-based private equity firm that acquired majority ownership of English Premier League club Chelsea in 2022. Jones, a former Princeton University track-and-field student-athlete where the pair first met, is a recording artist, investor, entrepreneur, and now MLB’s first Black principal owner. She serves as co-founder and CEO of the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative, an investment and philanthropic organization that has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to nonprofits and for-profit ventures.
The couple previously pursued NFL ownership, exploring opportunities with the Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos. When the Padres were placed on the market in November, Jones and Feliciano ultimately prevailed over three rival bidding groups. The final price surprised industry observers and reflected a convergence of factors within and beyond San Diego.
“We were saving up for a long time,” Jones said. “We had a lot of dry powder, and we were like, ‘You know what? This is the place.'”
Even before Monday’s introduction, Feliciano and Jones emphasized that their Padres investment is personally funded and separate from Clearlake Capital’s Chelsea holdings.
“I bring the same passion that I have for Chelsea to the Padres, but it is different because it is a personal investment,” Feliciano said. “Our time horizon here as owners is probably going to be much longer.”
Added Jones: “José shouldn’t be looking at the Padres in the same way he would look at Clearlake; it would be ridiculous for him to do that. If the biggest thing people take away is one thing, it’s that it is family. We said ‘family first’ because the lens through which we look at this investment is very different, the commitment is very different, and the outcomes we want go beyond just a financial outcome.”
Multiple officials briefed on internal deliberations, who were not authorized to speak publicly, indicated that Feliciano and Jones effectively approved the Padres’ decision to absorb roughly $6 million in payroll at the August 3 trade deadline. Following the previous two deadlines — and previous two offseasons — it marked a relative splurge for a team that had operated more frugally since Seidler’s death in November 2023.
The extent of the new owners’ willingness to spend beyond this season remains uncertain. A potential lockout could disrupt the 2027 campaign, a scenario the Feliciano-Jones group and rival bidders weighed. Meanwhile, MLB owners continue to pursue a salary cap and floor in the next collective bargaining agreement, convinced such a system would drive franchise values higher.
“I think ownership understands that, yeah, there’s resources, but you want to be smart and intelligent about how you spend money and dollars,” said Preller, who will report directly to Feliciano and Jones. “But having the ability to supplement the group and the team, that’s exciting. I think those will be more conversations in the future, because spending doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’re going to win.”
Feliciano said the new ownership group will “live within our means.”
“And that could mean different things in different years,” he said. “But again, we want to win, and we’re going to continue supporting that goal in many different ways. That means that at some moments, we’re going to be aggressive. But we’re always going to do it keeping the long-term health of the team in mind.”
In the near term, the Padres remain one of baseball’s more compelling clubs. The team had won 21 of 28 games entering Monday night’s series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates and is on pace to reach the postseason for a third consecutive year — a franchise first.
Before the game, Feliciano and Jones addressed the players in the home clubhouse, entering to the same track that had accompanied their earlier auditorium appearance.
“First impression today, very excitable people,” said manager Craig Stammen, who described Jones as having “an amazing amount of energy” and Feliciano as a bit more “buttoned-up.”
“But it’s exciting to have them as owners of the Padres,” Stammen added. “They bring a lot of energy to this ballclub.”