Ricketts Family Buys Chicago Cubs for $800 Million
The Ricketts family - led by billionaire Joe Ricketts - has purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs. The Chicago Tribunereports that the Ricketts bought a 95% in the Cubs team, Wrigly Field and and Tribune Co.'s 25% stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
"Our family is thrilled to have reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs, one of the most storied franchises in sports," Joe Ricketts, a billionaire who founded the Omaha-based online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., said in a statement. "The Cubs have the greatest fans in the world, and we count our family among them. We look forward to closing the transaction so that we can begin leading the Cubs to a World Series title."
The announcement is somewhat anticlimactic because in January Tribune Co. had selected the Ricketts family as the winning bidder of a protracted auction for the franchise. There were nine other prospective buyers.
The Ricketts family was expected to buy the Cubs but the Tribune says the negotiations took much longer than anyone expected. At one point Tribune Co. became so frustrated they tried to bring in a second buyer.
The Chicago Cubs is one of the few Major League Baseball teams that has a big national following. You can find die-hard Cubs fans in every state.
The Ricketts family - led by billionaire Joe Ricketts - has purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs. The Chicago Tribune 
