Lewis Wolff

Lewis N. Wolff (commonly shortened to Lew) is an American real estate developer. Wolff is also known for owning sports franchises; he is currently the co-owner of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball and the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. He was the fraternity brother of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.

In 1994, Wolff founded Maritz, Wolff & Co with Philip Maritz in St. Louis, Missouri.cite web | url=http://www.maritzwolff.com/corporate_history.html | title=Corporate profile: History | publisher=Maritz, Wolff & Co. | accessdate=2007-09-21 ] The company owns interest in eighteen hotel and resort properties around the world, including the Fairmont San Jose Hotel, the Fairmont San Francisco, the Carlyle Hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel Nevis, the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, and the Park Hyatt Sydney.cite web | url=http://www.maritzwolff.com/portfolio.html | title=Portfolio | publisher=Maritz, Wolff & Co. | accessdate=2007-09-21 ]

Wolff has a long history of sports franchise ownership. In the past, he has been a co-owner of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League and the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association.cite web | url=http://www.maritzwolff.com/exec_wolff.html | title=Executive profile: Lewis N. Wolff | publisher=Maritz, Wolff & Co. | accessdate=2007-09-21 ] On April 1, 2005, Wolff and an ownership group purchased the Oakland Athletics baseball team; Wolff became the 8th owner of the franchise.cite web | url=http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/oak/team/exec_bios/wolff_lewis.jsp | title=Lewis Wolff | publisher=Oakland Athletics | accessdate=2007-09-21 ] In 2006, the A's ownership group purchased an option to revive the San Jose Earthquakes franchise of Major League Soccer.cite news | url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/25/SOCCER.TMP | title=A's gain rights to revive Quakes | work=San Francisco Chronicle | author=Michelle Smith | date=May 25, 2006 | accessdate=2007-09-22 ] At the 2007 MLS All Star Game, it was announced that Wolff has exercised the option, and the Earthquakes began play during the 2008 MLS season.cite news | url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/2007-07-18-earthquakes-san-jose_N.htm | title=Earthquakes return to San Jose in 2008 | work=USA Today | date=2007 | accessdate=2007-09-22 ]

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