CLEVELAND -- Indians owner Paul Dolan has been open about his willingness to bring in a minority investor under the right circumstances. After a multiyear vetting process, Cleveland's search for a partner has come to a close.
On Friday, the Indians announced that John Sherman, a Kansas City-based entrepreneur, has joined the team as vice chairman and minority ownership partner. The specifics of Sherman's stake in the team were not revealed by the club.
"I am pleased to conclude the process and am thrilled to be partnering with John Sherman," Dolan, the Indians' CEO and chairman, said in a release. "John has an impressive business track record and shares the community-oriented values that we believe in."
The Indians noted that Dolan would not have further comment on the matter at this time, as his preference is to have the focus remain on the American League Central-leading Indians' play on the field.
Sherman started and developed a pair of businesses -- LPG Services Group and Inergy L.P. -- based in Kansas City. The former grew rapidly and merged with Dynegy in 1996, and the latter became a public company in 2001 and merged with Crestwood Holdings in '13. Sherman remains on the board of that merged company, Crestwood Equity Partners.
Sherman received the Hope Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 2012 for his philanthropic work, and he was inducted into the inaugural class of the University of Missouri's Bloch School of Business Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame in '14. That class also included Ewing Kauffman, the original owner of the Kansas City Royals, and Lamar Hunt, a founder of the American Football League and the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, until he passed away in December 2006.
"It's an exciting time to be joining the Indians organization and ownership group," Sherman said in a statement. "It's a strong, storied franchise with a great deal of promise this year and beyond. I look forward to working closely with Paul and helping him further the organization and team in any way that I can."