Ronald Lee Fowler (born July 23, 1944) is an American businessman. He is the vice chairman of the ownership group of the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
franchise in
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 (AL), ...
(MLB) and CEO of Liquid Investments Inc., a San Diego beer distributorship.
Early life
Fowler was born to Loren W. and Leona (Mohs) Fowler on July 23, 1944 in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, the oldest of two children. Fowler's father served in the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, stationed in
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
. Fowler was raised as
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, attending
St. Cloud Cathedral High School where he played baseball.
Liquid Investments
Fowler is the chairman and CEO of privately held Liquid Investments Inc., the parent company of former operating entities in California and Colorado. The investment group distributed
Miller
A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...
,
Coors,
Heineken
Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.
History
On 15 Febr ...
, and other beer brands; and had annual sales exceeding $220 million.
San Diego Padres
Fowler was a member of a minority group that owned 49.32 percent of the Padres. The group, headed by then-Padres chief executive Jeff Moorad
Jeffrey S. Moorad is an American businessman and investor. He began his career as a sports agent, before serving as General Partner and CEO of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, and Vice-Chairman and CEO of MLB's San Diego Padres.
Player representati ...
, attempted to buy the Padres from controlling owner John Moores for $530 million, but the deal fell through in April 2012. Fowler then replaced Moorad as the general partner of the minority group, and he served on the Padres executive committee.
Fowler joined a new group to purchase the Padres that included four heirs to the O’Malley family—who owned the Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
franchise for five decades. Kevin
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...
and Brian O'Malley
Brian Kevin O'Malley (22 January 1930 – 6 April 1976) was a British Labour Party politician.
O'Malley was educated at Mexborough Grammar School and Manchester University. He was a teacher and lecturer and a trade union official. From 19 ...
are the sons of former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley
Peter O'Malley (born December 12, 1937) is an American former owner (1979–98) and president (1970–98) of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Life and sports
O'Malley was born at Carson C. Peck Memorial Hospital in Brookly ...
and grandsons of Walter O'Malley
Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league b ...
, the owner who moved the Dodgers west from Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
after the 1957 season. Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
and Tom Seidler
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
are the nephews of Peter O’Malley.[ MLB approved the $800 million sale,][ which completed on August 28, 2012. As much as $200 million of the sale price included the team's 20-percent stake in ]Fox Sports San Diego
Bally Sports San Diego is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between Diamond Sports Group (itself a 50-50 joint venture between the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios) (which owns a controlling 80% stake) ...
, a cable channel that pays the Padres annual fees as part of a $1.2 billion, 20-year agreement. Fowler was named the ownership group's executive chairman and was designated to represent the Padres in all league meetings.[ He became the first locally based control person of the team since founding owner C. Arnholdt Smith.][ Under the Fowler/Siedler/O'Malley group, the Padres have signed 3 players to contracts that beat the previous franchise record contract, giving 6 years and $83 million to ]Wil Myers
William Bradford Myers (born December 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padre ...
in January 2017, 8 years and $144 million to Eric Hosmer
Eric John Hosmer (born October 24, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, and the Boston Red Sox ...
in February 2018, and 10 years and $300 million to Manny Machado
Manuel Arturo Machado (; born July 6, 1992) is an American professional baseball third baseman and shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Very highly recruited from an early age, he was raised in Miami, where he at ...
in February 2019.
On November 18, 2020, MLB
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 (AL), ...
approved Fowler transferring the role of chairman to Peter Seidler, who purchased a stake in the team from Fowler to become the largest stakeholder. Fowler remains with the team as vice chairman.
Other interests
Fowler owned the San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to:
*San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League
*San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League
*San Diego S ...
, an indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
team that won 10 championships in 11 years. He also chaired San Diego's first task force that selected a site for what was eventually Petco Park
Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby.
The ballpark is located between Se ...
, and he chaired the host committee for Super Bowl XXXVII
Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...
held in Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadiu ...
in 2003.
Philanthropy
Fowler and his wife Alexis have made major contributions to her alma mater, San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
. The school's College of Business Administration was renamed the Fowler College of Business in 2016 in response to the couple's $25 million endowment pledge to the business school. An earlier challenge donation that raised $10 million for the athletics center resulted in its being named the Fowler Athletic Center. The Fowler family has also donated to his alma mater, the University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to:
*Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia
*Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina
*St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick
*St. ...
, with contributions toward the Fowler Veranda of the football and outdoor track and field stadium.
References
External links
California State University bio
San Diego Padres bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Ron
1944 births
Living people
American chief executives of food industry companies
Major League Baseball owners
People from St. Cloud, Minnesota
San Diego Padres owners
Carlson School of Management alumni
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni