Steinbrenner family
The Steinbrenners are an American family of Irish-German descent. The family has owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball since George Steinbrenner purchased the franchise in 1973. After George's death, Hal Steinbrenner, his son, became the chairman of the Yankees. The Steinbrenner family also has financial interests in real estate, horse racing, and automobile racing. Forbes estimated the Steinbrenner family to be worth $3.8 billion in 2015, making them the 75th richest family in the United States.[1]
First generation[edit]
Businessman George Steinbrenner owned the American Ship Building Company and served as its chairman, as well as purchasing sports franchises. He led a group that bought the New York Yankees from CBS in 1973 for $10 million ($68,635,682 in current dollar terms). He sold two garages included in the sale, reducing the purchase price to $8.8 million ($60,399,400 in current dollar terms).[2] He invested $168,000 of his own money ($1,153,079 in current dollar terms) in the sale.[3] In 2009, Forbes estimated the Yankees to be worth $1.5 billion.[4] Steinbrenner died in July 2010.[3]
George married Joan Zieg on May 12, 1956. Joan was a philanthropist and invested in real estate. Additionally, she served as a vice chairperson for the Yankees. She died in December 2018.[5]
Third generation[edit]
George and Joan Steinbrenner had 14 grandchildren.[6]
Stephen Swindal Jr. works in baseball operations for the Yankees.[13][14]
Haley Swindal is a singer and actress. She has performed in Broadway shows,[15] including “Chicago”, where she has frequently starred as Mama Morton on Broadway since 2019.[16]
Robert Molloy, son of Jessica, works in operations for the Yankees, and produces movies with his company Pinstripe Productions.
[17]
George Michael Steinbrenner IV, the son of Hank, formed an IndyCar racing team in conjunction with Andretti Autosport in 2017 called Steinbrenner Racing. The team competed in the 2017 Indy Lights.[18] In 2018, he partnered with Mike Harding to form Harding Steinbrenner Racing, competing in the 2019 IndyCar Series.[19] In 2022, George's sister Julia stepped into a leadership role with the team.[20]
According to Jennifer, the family wants to own the team for "eternity".[13] Hal said the family had begun discussing future plans for the family's involvement in the franchise, and that several of George's grandchildren, including Stephen Swindal Jr, Robert Molloy, George Michael Steinbrenner IV, Julia Steinbrenner (George IV's sister), and Katherine Steinbrenner (Hal's daughter), have expressed interest in running the Yankees.[21]