Peter Seidler
Chairman
Peter Seidler is the Chairman of the San Diego Padres and the lead investor in the ballclub. Within the Padres long term strategy, the ownership group maintains a continued belief in three core commitments: (1) building a consistently exciting, championship-caliber team primarily through homegrown players, (2) providing a best-in-class, fan-friendly experience at Petco Park and (3) making a substantial, positive and lasting impact on the greater San Diego community.
Seidler is a founder and Managing Partner of Seidler Equity Partners (“SEP”), a family-oriented private equity fund that provides capital and management support to growing entrepreneurial companies across the United States and Australia. SEP was established in 1992 and manages equity capital with a market value of approximately $3 billion. SEP has backed proven entrepreneurs with strategic support and equity capital in a variety of industries, including health/fitness, advertising, scuba diving/recreation, printing equipment, children’s clothing and automotive products. The firm’s philosophy is to apply a long-term and patient-strategic approach in helping entrepreneurs and the companies they have founded and built continue on a path of success, job creation and excellence. In 2018, SEP (in partnership with Major League Baseball and the Seidler family) acquired Rawlings Sporting Goods Company Inc. Seidler currently sits on Major League Baseball’s Ownership Committee and Investment Committee.
In 2017, in collaboration with San Diego’s political, business and philanthropic leaders, Peter formed a “Tuesday Group” that meets weekly to address San Diego’s homeless problem. The primary aspect of the Tuesday Group is to help the most vulnerable segments of the homeless population. His efforts to push San Diego to “best practices” on homelessness resulted in recognition as the 2017 San Diego Public Official of the Year by the Building Owners and Managers Association, the 2017 San Diego Nice Guy of the Year, the National Conflict Resolution Center 30th Annual Peacemaker Award (2018), the 2018 San Diego Chamber of Commerce Award for Regional Collaboration, and the 2018 San Diego Downtown Partnership Founder Award. In 2019, Peter joined the board of directors at VVSD and was one of two private citizens added to “Leadership Council” on San Diego’s Homelessness Reduction Plan.
As a two-time cancer survivor (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma), Peter and his wife, Sheel, focus their philanthropic activities on health and medical matters, particularly on children impacted by homelessness. They support numerous charities, including The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The American Cancer Society, Home Start (San Diego’s charity targeting the prevention of child abuse) and various health and wellness initiatives at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Peter is a significant donor and a founding member of the Stand Up To Cancer Legacy Endowment Circle and a primary donor to the Lucky Duck Foundation (San Diego’s leading homelessness charity). Seidler is a member of the Board of Trustees and chairs the Student Affairs Committee at The University of San Diego and is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), an independent nonprofit medical research organization in La Jolla, CA.
Seidler earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.