Snyder contends at least one minority partner has attempted to leak defamatory information against himGETTY IMAGES
Minority partners of the Washington Football Team are pressuring Owner Dan Snyder to "sell the franchise," but he has "no intention to sell his majority stake in the team," according to sources cited by Beaton & Lombardo of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. This comes "amid a growing fight inside a team facing controversy on multiple fronts." A recent legal filing by Snyder "suggests that at least one of the minority partners has attempted to leak defamatory information against him." FedEx Chair & CEO Frederick Smith, Black Diamond Capital Chair & CEO Robert Rothman and NVR Chair Dwight Schar "own approximately 40% of the team" and have "hired an investment firm to sell their interest in the franchise." Sources said that the stakes have "attracted interest from a variety of potential buyers," but Snyder has been "reluctant to give any of them the option to eventually buy control despite the attempt to oust him." That has "prompted some would-be buyers to walk away." Beaton & Lombardo note sales of minority stakes "typically come at a significant discount if they don’t provide a path to ultimately control the team." A source said that if the team were to go up for sale, the limited partners or whoever purchases them "would have a right of first refusal" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/14).
