Mark L. Attanasio (born September 29, 1957) is an American businessman from

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

who is the principal owner of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. In September 2004, he reached a deal, on behalf of an investment group, to purchase the Brewers from the family of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) commissioner

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

for an estimated US$223 million. The deal was approved by MLB at the owners' winter meeting on January 13, 2005.

Early life and education

Attanasio was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and grew up in

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,

, where he attended high school. He graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1979 and received his J.D. from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1982.

Career

Finance

He co-founded the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

investment firm

Crescent Capital Group Crescent Capital Group is a global alternative investment firm focused on below investment grade credit markets with primary strategies that include funds that invest in leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, mezzanine debt, special situations, a ...

in 1991, which was later bought by Trust Company of the West in 1995. In 2001, Attanasio joined the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

at the

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

firm

Global Crossing Global Crossing was a telecommunications company that provided computer networking services and operated a tier 1 carrier. It maintained a large backbone network and offered peering, virtual private networks, leased lines, audio and video con ...

, which filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in January 2002. He resigned his position on the board shortly thereafter. He is a founder and senior executive with the alternative investment firm

Milwaukee Brewers

In September 2004, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Selig family announced that they had accepted Attanasio's bid to buy the team. Ryan Braun Accepts Silver Slugger April 2012

Ryan Braun Accepts Silver Slugger April 2012

Other work

Along with Brewers assistant general manager

Gord Ash Gordon Ian Ash (born December 20, 1951) is Vice President of Baseball Projects of the Milwaukee Brewers. He left his role as assistant general manager with Milwaukee in 2015. He was the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1995 to 2001 ...

and former Brewers pitcher

Ben Sheets Ben Michael Sheets (born July 18, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Sheets is a four-time MLB All-Star (2001, 2004, 2 ...

, Attanasio is also a part-owner of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

. He was a major sponsor of the widely acclaimed

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

exhibition at the

Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection contains nearly 25,000 works of art. Location and Visit Located on the lakefront of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the largest art museu ...

. In August 2022, it was announced that Attanasio would become a director of

Norwich City Football Club Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. Attanasio received major backlash from Brewers fans for this move, as the move came just after Attanasio did not allow Brewers GM

David Stearns David Stearns (born February 18, 1985) is an American baseball executive who most recently served as the president of baseball operations for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Stearns currently holds an advisory role with the ...

to make any significant additions to the team at the trade deadline because of “budget constraints”. It was reported that he would be purchasing an 18% stake in the club from

Michael Foulger Michael Foulger was managing director of Banham Poultry, a firm based in Attleborough. He is also deputy club chairman of EFL Championship club Norwich City He has been a board member of Norwich City for more than 20 years, after joining as a d ...

Personal

Mark is the brother of television writer

Paul Attanasio Paul Albert Attanasio (born November 14, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film and television producer. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, for ''Quiz Show (film), Quiz Show'' (1994) and ''Donnie ...

. He is married to Deborah (née Kaplan) and has two sons, Dan and Mike. His eldest son Dan and his rock band, Pan Am, performed at

Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's central business district. Summerfest attracts app ...

2008 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Attanasio, Mark Major League Baseball executives Private equity and venture capital investors American people of Italian descent Brown University alumni Milwaukee Brewers owners People from Tenafly, New Jersey Businesspeople from Los Angeles People from the Bronx Living people 1957 births Columbia Law School alumni Drexel Burnham Lambert