What is Bud Selig's Net Worth?

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Name: Bud Selig Born: July 30th, 1934 Company: Major League Baseball (MLB) Position: Commissioner

Bud Selig currently has a net worth of an estimated:

$375,000,000


Information:

Bud Selig is the current Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Selig, who replaced Fay Vincent as Interim Commissioner of the league on September 9th, 1992, is the second longest serving commissioner in the history of the league (Kenesaw Mountain Landis served as commissioner from 1920 to 1944).

Selig graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in American history and political science. After serving two years in the US Army, Selig went to work at his father's car leasing company.

Selig dipped his toe into the world of baseball ownership when the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953. Selig started buying up shares of the Braves, only to sell everything when the team left Milwaukee in 1965. Selig would eventually move a team back to Milwaukee a few years later.

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Bud Selig was devastated when the Braves left Milwaukee in 1965. He was later able to work out a deal with the Chicago White Sox in which the Sox would play a number of their home games at Milwaukee County Stadium. Milwaukee hosted 9 regular season White Sox games in 1968 and 11 in 1969. Selig attempted to buy the White Sox with the idea of moving them to Milwaukee, but Major League Baseball vetoed the deal.

Selig eventually set his sights on the Seattle Pilots. Selig purchased the bankrupt "Pilots" franchise in 1970 for a reported $10-$13 million and immediately moved them to Milwaukee.

Selig transferred his ownership interest in the Brewers to his daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb, after being named commissioner of the league. Selig and his family would eventually sell the franchise to LA investor Mark Attanasio in January of 2005 for $200 million.

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MLB revenues have soared under Bud Selig's rule, and the Commissioner has personally reaped the benefits.

According to Forbes.com, the average MLB team is worth $605 million. Three franchises (New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox) are worth at least a billion dollars, while the Chicago Cubs are worth nearly $900 million. Total league revenues are now north of $7 billion, a marked increase from the $1.5 billion that the league brought in during the 1995 season.

The league is awash in money right now thanks to lucrative cable deals and increased attendance. According to Bloomberg.com, Major League Baseball is set to bring in $12.4 billion over the next eight years from nationally televised games. A number of teams, including the Yankees and Dodgers, have lucrative local deals that pay them hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

The MLB franchise has recovered nicely after a couple of potentially crippling events, including the 1994 labor stoppage and the entire "Steroid Era" scandal. The league has been able to recover thanks, in part, to the implementation of the wild card, interleague play and revenue sharing.

As a result of the league's success, Bud Selig is very well compensated by Major League Baseball. His current two-year deal calls for Selig to receive a reported $22 million per year in salary and other compensation, including the use of a private jet.

Selig's compensation has slowly increased since he took over as commissioner of the league. In 2005, Selig earned a reported $14.60 million, and then followed this up with a $15.06 million payday in 2006 and an $18.35 million haul in 2007. Selig was reportedly going to retire prior to signing his most recent 2-year extension, but I don't blame him for sticking around - $22 million is pretty hard to say no to.

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Given the sale of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005, and given the hundreds of millions in compensation from Major League Baseball over the years, I'm pretty confident that Bud Selig's total net worth is somewhere in the neighborhood of $375-$400 million.


Notes:

Bud Selig is worth 4,851 times more than the median US household

If Bud Selig sold everything that he owned, he could fund the United States' deficit spending for 0.1 days.




Note: Net Worth changes calculated at 4 pm EST daily

The net worth pages are strictly for entertainment purposes only. The information on these pages is based on speculation and shouldn't be construed as being accurate in any way.