Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired New York Yankees star Derek Jeter have won the auction to purchase the Miami Marlins baseball team, a person familiar with the deal told Bloomberg. The sale contract has not yet been signed, and the person with knowledge of the situation did not reveal how much Bush and Jeter will pay for the team.
The family of President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, reportedly had a "handshake agreement" to buy the Marlins from the current owner, Jeffrey Loria. Only, for a series of reasons including a rumored ambassadorship for Loria and the potentially thorny nearness of the baseball stadium to the president's preferred residence, the Kushner family dropped out.
Jeter has dreamed of owning a baseball team since he retired in 2014, Bleacher Report writes. "In my mind, this is the greatest sport in the world," Jeter said. "I think baseball is taking somewhat of a back seat to some of the other sports. Some of the other sports are the sexy sports." Bush, on the other hand, wanted to be president but apparently owning a baseball team is the next best thing.
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Loria purchased the Marlins for $158 million in 2002. On Tuesday, Forbes reported the Bush-Jeter team have enough money to put down "about $200 million of equity and are currently 'running around looking to raise money.'"
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