Gents, I haven't been active on this board in ages. I hope you have all be doing well. I was listening to the Podcast version of Ted Ramey's Soccer Hour interview with Jesse F. (the new GM) and he mentioned interviewing with "Dave Kaval, John Fisher and Katie Hall". This prompted 2 questions: a) no mention of Lew Wolff - is he stepping aside like he did with the A's? b) is Katie Hall, the billionaire(?) SF money manager and founder of HCP an owner of Earthquakes? I just did some research and she is on the Earthquakes board. Pardon me if this is old news. c) has the mother of an MLS player ever owned a team before? Her son Billy Knutsen who was a collegiate star at American University was our 3rd string keeper in 2014. Injuries derailed him and he maxed out. I have some inside knowledge on him - rock solid guy and apparently an outstanding GK when healthy. Links for anyone interested: http://www.knbr.com/the-soccer-hour-podcast/ http://www.hallcapital.com/team/executive-committee/kathryn-a-hall.php http://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/2014/03/20/signing-rookie-gk-knutsen-joins-club
Yes, Lew has stepped away from the Quakes. He is, for all intents and purposes, retired. Not sure what Katie Hall's relationship with our team is. She is not part of the Innovation Advisory Board. So I'm not sure how she fits in with the club. A search of the Quakes website yields no links. I remember Knutsen, but not well. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Sorry if I wasn't clear. Per the link above and again: http://www.hallcapital.com/team/executive-committee/kathryn-a-hall.php KATHRYN A. HALL CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CO-CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER Katie Hall is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Hall Capital Partners LLC which she founded in 1994. She is a member of the firm's Executive Committee and Investment Review Committee. Previously, Ms. Hall was a General Partner of Laurel Arbitrage Partners, a risk arbitrage investment partnership that she founded in 1989. Prior to that, she was a General Partner of HFS Management Partners (predecessor to Farallon Capital Partners), HFS Partners I, and Hellman & Friedman. Ms. Hall began her career at Morgan Stanley where she worked in both the risk arbitrage and mergers and acquisitions departments. Currently, Ms. Hall is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Princeton University. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank's 12th District Economic Advisory Council. Additionally, she is a member of the Investment Committee of the Smithsonian Institution, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and serves on the Board of Directors of NextGen Climate Action, NextGen Climate America, and The San Jose Earthquakes, a professional major league soccer team. Previously, she served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) from 2008 to 2011 and as a director from 1998 to 2011. She also served on the boards of Juma Ventures, Larkin Street Youth Center, Mills College, San Francisco Ballet Association, San Francisco Day School, St. Ignatius College Preparatory, Stanford Management Company, Thacher School, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, as well as the board and investment committee of the UCSF Foundation. Additionally, she was a Director of the American Century Mountain View Funds from 2002 to 2007. Ms. Hall graduated cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in Economics and earned an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Of note, people like Katie Hall don't serve on boards for giggles. I find it unlikely she would do so without without an ownership interest (doesn't apply to the non-profits of course).
Interesting, because I was very involved with the women's alum group at the GSB for a few years and even organized a women's conference there and I've never heard of her. But she can't be much less involved than Uncle Lew was.
I'm fairly new to this forum, having only posted over at the Avaya Stadium thread. That said, if the pockets of Quakes ownership can get deeper, could bode well for future completion/expansion of our stadium.
I'm not sure they mean to "complete" the stadium. Maybe they will one day put more seats in the "south" end, but I bet they work out a way to save the LOBINA.
Mark, LOL! When I first commented over at the Avaya thread I was "corrected" by a long time poster for saying "future expansion." I was told Avaya needs to be "finished," implying that the stadium is not yet fully built out, complete. Anyhow, whatever the future holds for the Quakes Stadium, ownership with deep pockets can only be a good thing..
I bet they could build over the LOBINA, but it might cut into the grass area. I think that would be pretty cool with the moat area below and a big bar (no longer outdoor?) with rows up the top.
Hopefully to finally both add an outer skin and finish the roof sooner rather than later, as well as to perhaps close in the open corners sometime down the line. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
So Katie Hall is part owner and she is the mother of Billy Knutsen? Pretty good to go from third string GK to owner. Who will he fire first? Hmmmmm, I could just imagine....
She serves on the board of directors, that doesn't mean that she's part owner. Also, there are different kinds of ownership. Some companies have two or more different classes of stock. There's Class A and Class B. Depending on how it's set up, some of that is just regulal investment stock, like I might own stock in Gibson guitars, and some of it is voting stock that gives the owner a seat on the board of directors. We don't know what exactly her stake in the team might be. It's likely that she doesn't own any part of the club, but just sits on the board of directors, and no doubt draws a serious paycheck for that. Go Quakes!! - Mark
It also doesn't mean she isn't. Who knows if she owns a piece of the team or not? If LA 2 has all kinds of new investors I'm sure the Quakes can also have multiple owners.
The Quakes (and the A's) have been owned primarily by John Fisher (majority owner) and Lew Wolff (managing owner). Now that Lew has retired, John bought most of Lew's shares. So John Fisher now owns a huge slice of both teams (80% maybe? maybe more?) There are a few other minority owners. Crowley owned a small slice of both teams, but he's retired now too. It's possible that Katie Hall is now next biggest owner, or not. We don't know, but you know who probably does? I bet Jared Shawlee knows. In any case, I just sent him a letter and asked if he can tell us. I'll let you know what, if anything, he says. Go Quakes!! - Mark
Lew Wolff, is 82 years old . I seriously doubt he really has the time and energy to worry and care about the Quakes on a daily basis. I'm almost certain he is the owner in name only and is pretty much done.
I don't assume anything but I wouldn't put anything past anyone. I can also assure you Wolff is done and if he wasn't before, he is about to be. If anyone thinks otherwise they are sadly mistaken. How much time can an 82 year old owner really work on a daily basis for a professional soccer club?
82 isn't what it used to be. I know plenty of active people in their 80s (of course...I probably don't run into the others because they're in bed at home).
@falvo, Wolff announced his retirement earlier this year. Where the hell have you been? We've already discussed this on these boards. Go back up a couple of posts. Wolff retired, Crowley retired. Then they moved Dave Kaval over to be president of the A's (as well as president of the Quakes, but it looks like he's checked out of our team). So, the question s whether or not Katie Hall is an owner or merely a board member. Hopefully, Jared will answer that for us. - Mark