Earlier this week, Mike Ozanian of Forbes gave some insight into Josh Harris’ $6.05 billion bid for the Washington Commanders.
Harris, who owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils, is a Maryland native who attended the Field School in Washington, D.C., and would own 30% of the Commanders once his bid is finalized.
D.C. businessman and philanthropist Mitchell Rales would own 12%, and NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson would own 4% of the team. What about the other 54%?
The remaining percentage would be split up between 15 other minority investors, meaning the Commanders’ new ownership group, led by Harris, would consist of 18 individuals.
At a 76ers’ playoff game this week, Rales was seen sitting with Harris behind the Philadelphia bench, and another familiar face was seated with them. That would be successful businessman and philanthropist Mark Ein.
👀👀VIDEO EVIDENCE👀👀
Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales together at the 76ers playoff game tonight.@Markein is with them as well. pic.twitter.com/MlUigdSuWY
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) April 18, 2023
Who is Ein?
He owns the Washington Kastles, a Washington, D.C., World Team Tennis franchise, and is the executive chairman of Kastle Systems, a security firm. Over the course of his career, Ein has been a successful investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
But perhaps Ein’s most significant contribution to Harris’ bid isn’t his actual investment but his relationship with Harris. It was Ein who introduced Harris to Rales, according to Scott Abraham of ABC 7 in Washington.
Ein and Harris are childhood friends growing up together in Maryland. They also attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania together.
Ein is also friends with Rales, making him a central figure in the Commanders’ bid.
Harris and his group sent their bid to the NFL for review. The next step will be for the NFL to send the bid back to Harris and Daniel Snyder for their signatures. At that point, all that would remain is the other NFL owners voting to approve the sale, which is viewed as a given.
With all of the franchise’s failures throughout the years, fans should be excited about the prospect of Harris and his impressive group of partners becoming the next owners of the Commanders.
