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Thursday, October 22, 2009

SI/Heyman: Frank McCourt considering firing wife as CEO

I wonder if she’s being fired for non-performance.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is seriously considering firing his wife Jamie as CEO, SI.com has learned.

The McCourts are going through a divorce, and the sides are battling over the team. Frank McCourt is the chairman and highest ranking officer of the team. Jamie is the second-highest ranking officer.

Mike Emeigh Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:49 PM | 46 comment(s)
Related News: General, Business, LA Dodgers

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1. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: October 22, 2009 at 03:58 PM (#3362598)

The NLCS was her fault.

2. Dayton Moore is a Big Fat Idiot (AG#1F) Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:13 PM (#3362612)

It was her decision to sign Andruw Jones.

3. Cris E Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:19 PM (#3362618)

Man, if I fired my wife she'd get really, really mad. I hope he knows what he's getting into...

4. Eamus Catuli Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:24 PM (#3362627)

SI/Heyman: Jamie McCourt considering taking husband to cleaners

5. Dayton Moore is a Big Fat Idiot (AG#1F) Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:24 PM (#3362628)

Man, if I fired my wife she'd get really, really mad. I hope he knows what he's getting into...

I'm guessing she's already really, really mad about the divorce.

6. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:28 PM (#3362632)

Hell yeah, I'm getting my resume ready. I'm as qualified to be CEO of the Dodgers as Jamie McCourt. I'm a shoo in! I can't wait to start forcing players to give to my charities!

7. Tom Nawrocki Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:35 PM (#3362642)

After all the time she spent in the organization, slaving away in the hopes that someday all the hours would be worth it once she demonstrated to everyone that she would make a great CEO....

8. 3Com Park Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:37 PM (#3362648)

I just called Brian Sabean's wife to see if she would fire Brian Sabean.

9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:40 PM (#3362652)

That's what you get for sleeping with the boss.

10. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:49 PM (#3362663)

This certainly does explain what Verducci (?) meant when he said Torre wouldn't be back at the end of his contract due to (I'm paraphrasing here) "awful ownership conditions that will be coming to light and/or a head soon enough." I can just imagine what the squabbling between the owner and CEO in the midst of an ugly divorce would be like for Torre. And Colletti for that matter.

11. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: October 22, 2009 at 04:54 PM (#3362670)

And Colletti for that matter.

I think that if you opened up Colletti's head and looked inside, about 70% of it would be pictures of LOLcats.

He'll be fine, just like Walter Mitty.

12. Greg Goosen at 30

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:00 PM (#3362676)

#10 it was Gammons when interviewed on Michael Kay's radio show

13. DrStankus Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:01 PM (#3362677)

Didn't Colletti just sign an extension? Of course, Torre has more options to go manage elsewhere if he wants than Ned.

14. phredbird

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:15 PM (#3362689)

the link now says he's definitely fired her.

15. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:16 PM (#3362690)

the link now says he's definitely fired her.

Are they going to paint a white line between their mansions in Malibu?

16. birdlives (just name the place!) Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:22 PM (#3362697)

This is off topic but Strasburg got lit up like a Christmas tree today. 2.2 IP, 7 earned runs.

17. phredbird

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:24 PM (#3362700)

believe it or not, i actually know some people close to the situation. their take is that mccourt had to do that, in order to solidify his position that he owns the team outright. and she was smart to force him to do that. if she had left the team when the separation became public, it would make it look like she tacitly agrees that he owns the team. the fact that the news of the separation came out during the playoffs looks like her doing, not sure why.

18. The District Attorney Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:26 PM (#3362702)

Will this mean the end of the Jeanne Zelasko/Mark Sweeney "strong enough for a man, pH balanced for a woman" broadcasts???

19. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:29 PM (#3362705)

This is off topic but Strasburg got lit up like a Christmas tree today. 2.2 IP, 7 earned runs.

So his ERA is already infinitely worse that Sidd Finch's. FAIL!

20. birdlives (just name the place!) Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:33 PM (#3362714)

So his ERA is already infinitely worse that Sidd Finch's. FAIL!

I guess you could say he took a real #### today.

21. phredbird

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:38 PM (#3362718)

oh and by the way, colletti's contract has been extended. i didn't even notice it was announced yesterday or the day before.

22. BarrettsHiddenBall Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:41 PM (#3362724)

Didn't RTFA. Where do I send my resume?

23. TerpNats Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:55 PM (#3362735)

If only Norman Krasna or Ben Hecht were still with us. This would make one helluva screwball comedy.

24. Yankee_Redneck Posted: October 22, 2009 at 06:02 PM (#3362740)

Hell yeah, I'm getting my resume ready. I'm as qualified to be CEO of the Dodgers as Jamie McCourt.

Yikes. I didn't know you, uh, um, never mind.

25. Tripon Posted: October 22, 2009 at 07:25 PM (#3362844)

L.A. Times is reporting that Jamie McCourt has already started fielding calls to potential investors to buy out Frank McCourt.

26. phredbird

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 07:30 PM (#3362857)

Jamie McCourt is believed to be lining up investors for a possible effort to buy out her husband and gain sole control of the team. In addition, she is believed to have started calling prominent baseball figures, with the intention of arranging meetings to discuss the direction of the team.

that's bill shaikin at the la times

27. Gold Star 4 Robot Boy Posted: October 22, 2009 at 07:30 PM (#3362858)

Frank, take the cash and walk away.

Any speculation on potential buyers?

28. Gold Star 4 Robot Boy Posted: October 22, 2009 at 07:32 PM (#3362865)

Wait, what? Frank sells but she sticks around? No f'ing way that happens.

29. Hugh Jorgan Posted: October 22, 2009 at 07:51 PM (#3362929)

The McCourts are going through a divorce, and the sides are battling over the team. Frank McCourt is the chairman and highest ranking officer of the team. Jamie is the second-highest ranking officer.

Here's one for the married guys(me, nearly 20 years). Do you see what's wrong with this sentence? No, well anyone who has ever tried to work with their partner will tell you...

30. Jeff K. Posted: October 22, 2009 at 09:21 PM (#3363130)

their take is that mccourt had to do that, in order to solidify his position that he owns the team outright. and she was smart to force him to do that. if she had left the team when the separation became public, it would make it look like she tacitly agrees that he owns the team.

I'm usually pretty quick to catch on to Machiavellian maneuvering, but I'm not getting this. How is it simultaneously good for him, showing he owns the team, and smart for her to force him to do?

31. Tripon Posted: October 22, 2009 at 09:22 PM (#3363136)

Jeff K. Because she's was in a catch-22. At least this way her being 'fired' is better than 'resigning'.

32. Mr. J. Penny Smoltzuzaka

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 09:58 PM (#3363288)

Jamie McCourt: Dodgers vice chairman in 2004, president in 2005, CEO in 2009 and soon-to-be majority owner in 2010. What an incredible career trajectory. It's a prime example of the American Dream that if you just work hard enough anything is possible.

Jamie McCourt is believed to be lining up investors for a possible effort to buy out her husband and gain sole control of the team.

Where do I get in line? I have such great faith in her business acumen that I'd like to invest $10.

33. phredbird

Posted: October 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM (#3363405)

How is it simultaneously good for him, showing he owns the team, and smart for her to force him to do?

him 'firing' her doesn't necessarily mean he owns the team, but he needed to get her out of the organization if he can, he needs to assume control of the team if he's the owner. so he was more or less forced to do it.
meanwhile, if she decides to challenge the termination, she can't very well say she was unfairly terminated if she had resigned.
i'll bet both sides lawyers gave the advice to each that resulted in this odd set of circs.

34. Sean Forman Posted: October 22, 2009 at 10:46 PM (#3363520)

35. God Posted: October 23, 2009 at 01:47 AM (#3363590)

So what you're saying, Sean, is that she probably won't sign Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger?

36. McCoy Posted: October 23, 2009 at 01:58 AM (#3363592)

Jamie McCourt is an MIT Sloan MBA, so she probably has as much or more business acumen/training than the 50% of the owners who got to run their teams because Dad made a lot of money in newspapers or already owned the team. I don't know what she did before working for the Dodgers, but she isn't Georgia Frontiere.

Somebody got contacted by Ms. McCourt now didn't they?

37. MM1f Posted: October 23, 2009 at 03:37 AM (#3363601)

Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk Posted: October 22, 2009 at 05:28 PM (#3362632)
Hell yeah, I'm getting my resume ready. I'm as qualified to be CEO of the Dodgers as Jamie McCourt. I'm a shoo in! I can't wait to start forcing players to give to my charities!

Obviously who she is/was married to is the reason she was the CEO but shes got good business, legal and academic credentials.

From wiki..
McCourt studied French at Georgetown University, received a law degree at University of Maryland (1978) and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
For 15 years she was a practicing attorney engaged in international and securities law in New York as well as in corporate, real estate and family law in Boston. She spent the next 10 years as vice president and general counsel of the McCourt Co., the family real estate development firm in Boston. She relocated from Boston to Los Angeles in 2004 with her husband and their four sons Drew, Travis, Casey and Gavin.[7] She joined the Dodgers front-office organization as an executive after the team was acquired.
Beside her legal and real estate work, she also taught classes at the MIT Sloan School and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

38. HOPE: Madison Obamagarner (Flynn) Posted: October 23, 2009 at 06:03 AM (#3363609)

I'd love to know the dirt behind why they're getting divorced. I'm curious because Jamie McCourt looks completely different now from when the McCourts bought the team. Something's up, and this is going to get nasty.

Then & Now.

It might not mean anything, but my first thought was, "Wow, she's become totally LA." Especially compared to her husband, who looks exactly the same.

39. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: October 23, 2009 at 06:35 AM (#3363614)

Obviously who she is/was married to is the reason she was the CEO but shes got good business, legal and academic credentials.

I admit that she has me beat. I take it back!

40. Mr. J. Penny Smoltzuzaka

Posted: October 23, 2009 at 07:17 AM (#3363625)

Jamie McCourt is believed to be lining up investors for a possible effort to buy out her husband and gain sole control of the team.

After learning "... shes got good business, legal and academic credentials." I've reconsidered investing only $10. I'd be a fool not to put up $20. It'll be the easiest money I'll ever make - there's no way this won't work out. She's clearly the brains in the family.

41. pthomas Posted: October 23, 2009 at 08:16 AM (#3363657)

The great line about all this was TJ Simers in the Times last week:

"If Jamie and Frank split up, who gets custody of Lasorda?"

42. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: October 23, 2009 at 08:27 AM (#3363663)

"If Jamie and Frank split up, who gets custody of Lasorda?"

A pack of 10 dogs?

43. Eamus Catuli Posted: October 23, 2009 at 08:33 AM (#3363667)

"If Jamie and Frank split up, who gets custody of Lasorda?"

A pack of 10 dogs?

They're not that dumb.

44. Dayton Moore is a Big Fat Idiot (AG#1F) Posted: October 23, 2009 at 09:03 AM (#3363683)

Jamie McCourt is an MIT Sloan MBA, so she probably has as much or more business acumen/training than the 50% of the owners who got to run their teams because Dad made a lot of money in newspapers or already owned the team. I don't know what she did before working for the Dodgers, but she isn't Georgia Frontiere.

She's got the Royals CEO beat. I think he was a jewelry salesman and a graduate of Drury (the MIT of Springfield, Missouri) before he was Royals CEO. He also happens to be the offspring of the owner.

45. TerpNats Posted: October 23, 2009 at 09:18 AM (#3363705)

If Alyssa Milano hadn't married recently, she could've found a way to get into this. (Just a joke, Alyssa, just a joke. P.S. My mom loved your book.)

46. Mike Emeigh

Posted: October 23, 2009 at 11:38 AM (#3363850)

I think he was a jewelry salesman and a graduate of Drury (the MIT of Springfield, Missouri) before he was Royals CEO. He also happens to be the offspring of the owner.

Reminds me of the old joke about the CEO who is talking to his newly-appointed executive VP:

"You started in the mail room, and just six months later you've worked your way up to the executive suite. What do you have to say to that?"

"Thanks, Dad."

-- MWE

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SI/Heyman: Frank McCourt considering firing wife as CEO

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