Where Cardinals’ Bill DeWitt ranks among wealthiest owners in baseball

John Mozeliak (L) and Bill DeWitt, Jr. managing partner and chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals talk in the dugout prior to a game against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on September 29, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals beat the Cubs 4-0. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
John Mozeliak (L) and Bill DeWitt, Jr. managing partner and chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals talk in the dugout prior to a game against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on September 29, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals beat the Cubs 4-0. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Where does Cardinals’ Bill DeWitt rank among wealthiest owners in baseball? In the top-10, according to a recent report.

Ever since I started writing about the St. Louis Cardinals on a daily basis, an argument I have often heard among fans is that owner Bill DeWitt is cheap and that he doesn’t spend. I often counter that point with the Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado additions, which are 1) expensive and 2) have transformed the organization into an annual playoff contender.

So where does DeWitt rank among the most wealthy owners in baseball? MLB Trade Rumors collected data on all 30 owners and DeWitt comes in ninth with a $4 billion net worth.

DeWitt, of course, bought the Cardinals for $150 million in 1995. He was the founder of the investment firm Reynolds, DeWitt & Co., which owns 63 Arby’s franchises and has a present day value of $50.4 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. He previously was a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers and his father, also Bill DeWitt, owned the St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Reds.

Under DeWitt, the Cardinals have advanced to the postseason 16 times and won the World Series twice (2006: defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4-1; 2011: defeated the Texas Rangers, 4-3). His ownership has largely been a success, with the team being annual contenders, and being led by longtime franchise stalwarts Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright.

There has been controversy, as DeWitt said in 2020 that baseball is not profitable. Only days before the comments, MLB and Turner Sports reached an agreement on a billion-dollar contract to broadcast a League Championship Series. The comments did not resonate well amongst fans, or anyone in baseball, as he received backlash by seemingly every fan and some players, including Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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In the NL Central, DeWitt ranks as the second wealthiest owner. The wealthiest is the Cubs’ Tom Ricketts ($4.5 billion), followed by DeWitt, Pirates’ Bob Nutting ($1.1 billion), Brewers’ Mark Attanasio ($700 million) and Reds’ Robert H. Castellini ($400 million), per MLB Trade Rumors.