John J. Fisher

John Joseph Fisher (born June 1, 1961) is an American businessman. He is the principal owner of the Athletics of Major League Baseball, the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, and the Texas Rattlers of the Professional Bull Riders organization.

Fisher is the son of Gap founders Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher, inheriting his fortune from them, and amassing an estimated net worth of $3 billion. Along with his father, he was a part-owner of the San Francisco Giants, purchasing a stake in the team in 1992 as part of an investment group that prevented the team from relocating to the Tampa Bay area. In 2005, Fisher sold his stake in the Giants to buy the Athletics. His ownership of the team has been regarded as one of the worst in sports, as some argue that he deliberately mismanaged the team to reduce fan interest and move the team from Oakland to Las Vegas.

Early life Fisher is the son of Doris Feigenbaum Fisher and Don Fisher, the co-founders of Gap, and inherited his fortune from them. His family, which is Jewish, also includes two brothers: Robert J. Fisher and William S. Fisher. John is married to Laura Meier Fisher.

Fisher attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton University, and graduated with an A.B. in history in 1983 after completing a 279-page-long senior thesis titled "Echoes of the Holocaust: Survivors in America Speak Out." He then attended graduate school at Stanford University School of Business, where he earned a master's degree in business administration.

Athletics ownership

Fisher has been the majority owner of the Athletics when he and Wolff closed on their joint purchase of the team in 2005, and is now also the managing general partner. In November 2016, Wolff sold his 10% share in the Athletics to Fisher, giving him full ownership of the team.

In April 2023, the Oakland Athletics announced a plan to build a new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip at the site of the former Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel casino near Interstate 15, near T-Mobile Arena, while also ending negotiations with the City of Oakland. The plan was announced after an agreement where Nevada provides $380 million in taxpayer money towards a new stadium for the team.

During a June 13, 2023 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the crowd of 27,759 protested the relocation in an organized "reverse boycott" by wearing green "Sell" shirts, holding signs, and chanting "Sell the team!"

On September 26, 2024, at the end of the A's final game in Oakland, a giant collective chant of "Fuck John Fisher" broke out in the Oakland Coliseum. Fisher was not in attendance, and had not been to a game at the Coliseum for nearly two full seasons.

The Las Vegas move has been cited by various figures in sports media as evidence for Fisher being the worst owner in baseball, with some arguing that he deliberately mismanaged the A's to reduce fan interest and move the team. Former A's employees were also critical, with Wally Haas, the former team president, calling Fisher's moving of the team "unforgivable". Upon A's pitcher Trevor May's announcement that he was retiring, he tweeted in regards to Fisher, "Let someone who actually takes pride in the things they own own something. There's actually people who give a s--- about the game. Let them do it. Take Mommy and Daddy's money somewhere else, dork."

Defending the move, Fisher has stated a new stadium was necessary in order to be competitive in the free agent market, and claimed his ownership group did their very best to keep the team in the Bay Area, but had five new ballpark proposals turned down before looking into Las Vegas.

Political views After college, Fisher worked in the mailroom at the Republican National Committee and as a fundraiser for then-president Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush. Since then, he has had a long history of donating money to Republican politicians and causes, and sometimes to moderate Democrats. Fisher, along with his mother Doris F. Fisher and brothers William S. Fisher and Robert J. Fisher, donated nearly $9 million to a political action committee that opposed Barack Obama in the 2012 election. Congressional candidates who received donations from Fisher in 2023 include, Jodey Arrington, Michael Bennet, Mike Carey, Young Kim, Kyrsten Sinema, and Todd Young. That year, he also endorsed Republican Party candidate Doug Burgum for the 2024 US presidential election, donating the maximum legal amount to Burgum's campaign.