Patrick Zalupski
01Overview
Patrick Zalupski is worth an estimated $1.16 billion, in a range of $0.8 billion to $1.4 billion. Almost all of it sits in two places: the Jacksonville homebuilder he founded in 2008, Dream Finders Homes, and the Tampa Bay Rays, the team his group bought for about $1.7 billion in September 2025 and took to the World Series in its first full season.
The homebuilder half has shrunk fast. Dream Finders closed at $9.02 on October 21, 2026, down from $15.71 when Forbes put him at $1.1 billion in March and $31.50 at its 2025 peak. His 59.8 million shares are worth about $540 million, and 4 million of those are already committed to forward-sale contracts that paid him $56 million up front. The Rays half is the unknown: he is the team's control person, and the company's proxy calls him its majority owner, but his exact stake and the deal's debt have never been disclosed. We assume half of the equity in a team Forbes values at $1.7 billion.
One filed number cuts the other way. In September 2026 he disclosed that 35.5 million of his Class B shares, more than half his stake, are pledged as security for margin loans. The loan balance is not public. We subtract an estimated $200 million.
| Full name | Patrick Odonaghue Zalupski |
| Born | November 29, 1980, suburban Detroit, Michigan |
| Age | 45 |
| Residence | Avondale, Jacksonville, Florida |
| Family | Married to Leah Zalupski; three children |
| Education | Bachelor of Science, Stetson University, 2003 |
| Early career | Financial auditor in FedEx's internal audit department, Memphis; then flipping houses and condominiums in Jacksonville |
| Source of wealth | Dream Finders Homes (NYSE: DFH), founded December 2008 |
| Sports | Control person and co-chair, Tampa Bay Rays; principal owner, Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Other roles | University of Florida Board of Trustees (appointed 2023) |
02Published Estimates
| Source | Date | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| DaveManuel.com | October 21, 2026 | $1.16B (range $0.8-1.4B) |
| Forbes | March 10, 2026 | $1.1B (No. 3,185 on the 2026 billionaires list) |
| Forbes | September 30, 2025 | $1.4B (at the Rays closing) |
| Forbes | April 2025 | $1.5B |
Forbes set its March 2026 figure when Dream Finders traded at $15.71. The stock has since fallen 43%, which on its own takes about $400 million off the value of his shares. We land slightly above Forbes because we credit him with half of the Rays' equity, the share implied by the company calling him majority owner; we also subtract an estimate for the margin loans he disclosed in September 2026. Bloomberg does not track him.
03Assets and Liabilities
Zalupski owns every Class B share of Dream Finders Homes, which carry three votes each, plus about 2.1 million Class A shares. Below, his stock is valued at the October 21, 2026 close of $9.02. The 4 million Class B shares tied up in prepaid forward-sale contracts are left out, because their sale prices are locked and he has already been paid $56.2 million for them.
| Asset | Value |
|---|---|
| Dream Finders Homes | |
| Class B shares, free of forward contracts53,726,153 shares, convertible one-for-one into Class A, 3 votes each; 35.5 million of them pledged for margin loans | $484.6M |
| Class A sharesAbout 2.09 million shares, including unvested restricted stock (Schedule 13G/A, March 31, 2026) | $18.8M |
| Sports | |
| Tampa Bay Rays (and Tampa Bay Rowdies)Estimated 50% of the equity. Forbes values the Rays at $1.7 billion with debt equal to 7% of value, leaving about $1.58 billion of equity; his exact stake is undisclosed | $790.5M |
| Cash and property | |
| Cash and investmentsEstimate: $56.2 million of prepaid forward-sale proceeds, about $25.6 million of Class A sales since 2023, and after-tax pay, less spending | $60.0M |
| Avondale, Jacksonville home1928 Tudor Revival on the St. Johns River, bought for $7.77 million (reported January 2024) | $7.8M |
| Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & SpaBought for $149 million in December 2025 by a group he led that included Dream Finders Homes; his share is undisclosed | Not valued |
| Total assets | $1,361.7M |
| Less: margin loans (estimate)3Secured by 35.5 million pledged Class B shares; the balance is not disclosed | ($200.0M) |
| Estimated net worth | $1,161.7M |
We do not deduct taxes he would owe if he sold, as is standard for net worth estimates. The Rays figure is the biggest swing factor: each 10 percentage points of ownership is worth about $158 million.
04Current Positions
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NYSE: DFH) | Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Co-ChairmanChairman since the January 2021 IPO; co-chairman since the Beazer Homes deal closed October 20, 2026 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | Control person and co-chairWith co-chair Bill Cosgrove and CEO Ken Babby |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies (USL Championship) | Principal ownerAcquired with the Rays |
| DF Capital Management | Investment committeeSince April 2018 |
| University of Florida | Board of TrusteesAppointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023; term runs to January 2028 |
05How the Fortune Was Built
| 1980 | Born November 29 in suburban Detroit. | |
| 2003 | Graduates from Stetson University and moves to Jacksonville, after working as an internal auditor at FedEx. | |
| 2008 | Co-founds Dream Finders Homes in December with Mark McGuigan, in the depths of the housing crash. Closes 27 homes in its first year. | |
| 2013 | Buys out McGuigan. | |
| 2021 | Dream Finders goes public on Nasdaq on January 21 at $13 a share. Keeps every Class B share and about 85% of the votes. | $13 IPO |
| 2022 | Moves the listing to the New York Stock Exchange. | |
| 2025 | Leads the group that buys the Rays and Rowdies, closing September 30. Dream Finders peaks at $31.50 that month. | ~$1.7B team |
| 2026 | Forbes puts him at $1.1 billion in March. In September he discloses 35.5 million pledged shares. Dream Finders closes the $2.2 billion Beazer Homes purchase on October 20, and the Rays win the American League pennant. | $1.16B |
06From Auditor to Homebuilder
Flipping houses
Zalupski grew up in suburban Detroit, studied at Stetson University in Florida and spent his first working years as a financial auditor in FedEx's internal audit department in Memphis. In 2003 he moved to Jacksonville, where his mother sells real estate, and started rehabbing and flipping houses. From 2006 to 2008 he ran Bay Street Condominiums, a downtown condo project.
Starting in a crash
He founded Dream Finders Homes in December 2008, at about the worst moment in modern history to start a homebuilder, with Mark McGuigan, a construction veteran. The pair built at Pine Ridge Plantation in Middleburg and bought finished lots only as they needed them, a habit that kept debt low. They closed 27 homes in the first year. Zalupski bought McGuigan out in 2013.
07Building Dream Finders
Growth by acquisition
Dream Finders went public on Nasdaq on January 21, 2021, at $13 a share, raising about $125 million. Zalupski kept all of the Class B stock, which carries three votes a share, and about 85% of the voting power. The company moved its listing to the New York Stock Exchange in October 2022 and spent more than $1 billion on eight acquisitions between the IPO and May 2026. By 2024 it had closed more than 35,000 homes and reached $4.4 billion of revenue.
Beazer Homes
On October 20, 2026, Dream Finders closed its all-cash purchase of Beazer Homes at $33.50 a share, about $2.2 billion including debt, after bidding repeatedly through 2026. The deal makes it the sixth-largest homebuilder in the country. It was paid for partly with a new 12% convertible preferred stock, and as part of the financing Zalupski signed an agreement not to let his voting power fall below 50%.
A hard year for the stock
The deal arrived in a weak market. Dream Finders missed earnings forecasts in the first quarter of 2026, and its second-quarter profit fell by half; Zalupski told investors that the home building market "continues to be challenging." The stock closed at $9.02 on October 21, 2026, a day after the Beazer closing, against a 52-week high of $23.80.
08Control, Pledges and Forward Sales
Who controls the company
Zalupski owns all 57,726,153 Class B shares, some held through POZ Holdings, POZ BR and a trust for his children, plus about 2.1 million Class A shares. That is about 65% of the economic interest and, by our arithmetic from the filed share counts, about 84.7% of the votes.
How he raises cash without selling
He has sold relatively little stock: about $25.6 million of small Class A sales from 2023 to 2025, some of them to cover taxes on vesting shares. Instead he has used prepaid variable forward contracts, signed between August 2024 and March 2026, which paid him about $56.2 million up front against 4 million Class B shares to be delivered between 2027 and 2029. And a September 14, 2026 filing disclosed that 35.5 million Class B shares are pledged as security for margin loans. Neither the loan balance nor what the money was used for has been disclosed; the timing lines up with the Rays purchase, but that is our inference.
Why the pledge matters
Margin loans are secured by stock. When the stock falls, lenders can ask for more collateral or sell shares. Dream Finders has fallen by more than two-thirds from its 2025 peak, and the pledged shares are worth about $320 million at $9.02.
09Buying the Rays
The deal
Sportico reported in June 2025 that Zalupski had agreed to buy the Rays from Stuart Sternberg, who had bought into the team for about $200 million in 2004. The price, reported at about $1.7 billion and never officially announced, included the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team. MLB owners approved the sale unanimously on September 22, 2025, and it closed on September 30. Sternberg's group kept about 10% at first.
The group
Zalupski is the MLB control person and co-chair, alongside co-chair Bill Cosgrove, the chief executive of Union Home Mortgage, with Ken Babby, owner of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and Akron RubberDucks, as chief executive. Dream Finders' proxy describes Zalupski as the team's majority owner, but no filing or announcement gives his percentage.
A $2.3 billion ballpark
The new owners chose a site on Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus in Tampa. The Tampa City Council approved a $2.3 billion stadium deal, including $967 million of public money, by a 4-3 vote on August 27, 2026, and Hillsborough County followed. The team plays at Tropicana Field through 2028 and aims to open the new park for the 2029 season.
On the field
In the group's first full season the Rays went 98-64, won the American League East, swept the Yankees and beat Cleveland in six games for the third pennant in team history. Forbes valued the team at $1.7 billion in March 2026, up 36% in a year.
10Pay
2025
Dream Finders paid him $10.2 million for 2025: a $1.28 million salary, $4.84 million of stock awards, a $3.75 million cash incentive and $368,000 of other compensation, 97 times what the company paid its median employee. The company pays no regular common dividend, so his stake produces no income.
11His Dream Finders Stake at Different Prices
The value of the 59.8 million shares he beneficially owns, including the 4 million committed to forward sales.
| Moment | Share price | Stake value |
|---|---|---|
| IPO, January 2021 | $13.00 | $778M |
| 2025 peak, September 2025 | $31.50 | $1,884M |
| Forbes 2026 list, March 2026 | $15.71 | $940M |
| October 21, 2026 close | $9.02 | $540M |
Share count from his Schedule 13G/A for March 31, 2026 (59,814,230 shares as converted).
12Frequently Asked Questions
What is Patrick Zalupski's net worth?
We estimate about $1.16 billion as of October 21, 2026, in a range of $0.8 billion to $1.4 billion. About $503 million is Dream Finders Homes stock at $9.02 a share, an estimated $791 million is half of the Tampa Bay Rays' equity, and about $68 million is cash and his Jacksonville home, less an estimated $200 million of margin loans. Forbes put him at $1.1 billion in March 2026.
Is Patrick Zalupski a billionaire?
Probably, but it depends on the Rays. His Dream Finders stock alone is worth about $540 million after a 43% fall since March 2026. Whether he is still a billionaire turns on his undisclosed share of the Rays and the size of his margin loans.
How much did Patrick Zalupski pay for the Rays?
His group paid about $1.7 billion, a figure reported by Sportico and never officially announced, and the deal closed on September 30, 2025. His personal share and the deal's debt have not been disclosed.
What company does Patrick Zalupski own?
He founded Dream Finders Homes, a Jacksonville homebuilder listed on the New York Stock Exchange (DFH), in 2008. He owns about 65% of it and controls about 85% of the votes. In October 2026 it bought Beazer Homes for about $2.2 billion.
Who owns the Tampa Bay Rays?
A group led by Patrick Zalupski, the MLB control person and co-chair, with co-chair Bill Cosgrove and chief executive Ken Babby. The previous owner, Stuart Sternberg, kept about 10% after the 2025 sale.
13Sources and Method
Dream Finders shares are valued at the October 21, 2026 close of $9.02, using the share counts in Zalupski's Schedule 13G/A for March 31, 2026 and the September 14, 2026 voting agreement. The 4 million Class B shares under prepaid forward contracts are excluded and the $56.2 million he received for them is counted as cash. The Rays are valued from Forbes' March 2026 estimate of $1.7 billion less debt of 7% of value, and we assume he owns 50% because Dream Finders' proxy calls him the majority owner. Cash, the margin-loan balance and the Rays stake are our estimates and are labelled as such. Taxes on unrealized gains are not deducted.
- Ownership: Schedule 13G/A No. 5, March 31, 2026 (Dream Finders Homes); voting agreement, September 14, 2026, disclosing the pledged shares (SEC); Form 4, March 9, 2026 (StockTitan); 2026 proxy statement (SEC).
- Company: Beazer Homes closing release, October 20, 2026 (SEC); Series B preferred financing, September 14, 2026 (SEC); first-quarter 2026 results (Nasdaq); IPO (Jacksonville Daily Record); move to the NYSE (Dream Finders Homes); share price, October 21, 2026 (StreetInsider); 2025 pay (AFL-CIO Paywatch).
- Rays: sale closing (MLB.com); price and terms (Sportico; Front Office Sports); Forbes 2026 team values (The Big Lead); stadium approval (AP via KSAT; theScore); 2026 season (Baseball-Reference).
- Background and property: Forbes profile (Forbes); Forbes 2026 list (Jacksonville Daily Record); early career (Jacksonville Daily Record; University of Florida); homes (Jacksonville Daily Record); Sawgrass Marriott (St. Johns Citizen).
1 53,726,153 Class B shares not committed to forward contracts plus about 2.09 million Class A shares, at the October 21, 2026 close of $9.02.
2 Our estimate: 50% of the Rays' equity, valued at Forbes' $1.7 billion less 7% debt. His actual stake is not public.
3 Disclosed in a September 14, 2026 SEC filing. The loan balance is not public; we subtract an estimated $200 million.
Last updated: October 21, 2026. Net worth figures are estimates built from public filings and reporting; private holdings are valued conservatively and may differ from what the person would report.