With the Commanders gathering bids in anticipation of Daniel Snyder selling his ownership stake, billionaire entrepreneur Josh Harris has reportedly recently toured team's headquarters in Ashburn, according to Ben Standig and Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.
If Harris' bid is successful, it would add to an investment portfolio that already includes controlling interests in the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and Premier League side Crystal Palace.
Though he and his family currently reside in Miami, Harris has roots in the area, growing up in Chevy Chase.
Standig and Kaplan noted that touring a team’s stadium or facility is not uncommon for prospective buyers before the first round of bids is due. Reports of bids in December were "non-binding indications of interest" and not technically bids, per The Athletic report, and the deadline for the first round of bids is in a few weeks.
The Washington Post also reported Harris' visit and, according to a source, at least one other prospective buyer has visited the team facility.
Once final bids are submitted, the Commanders could command over $7 billion, dwarfing the record amount paid by Walmart heir Rob Walton when he purchased the Broncos for $4.65 billion last year.
Harris, who made his fortune in private equity, faces stiff competition from other potential bidders could include entertainment mogul Byron Allen, Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano of Santa Monica-based investment firm Clearlake Capital and Jeff Bezos of Amazon fame.
Bezos, the world’s third-richest person according to Forbes with an estimated net worth of $120.8 billion, shouldn’t have any trouble outbidding the field, though his pursuit could be complicated by his ownership of the Washington Post, the newspaper which exposed the toxic workplace. Despite reported personal resentment of Bezos, many close to the situation suspect Snyder would still sell to him if his bid was substantially higher than other offers.
After years of resisting, fighting to keep his team amid endless scandals, Snyder may have signaled defeat with November’s announcement that he would begin exploring “potential transactions,” retaining services from Bank of America to help facilitate that process.
