For two decades, the Tampa Bay Rays were baseball’s great paradox, making two World Series appearances while keeping one of the league’s lowest payrolls under Stuart Sternberg. They were stuck, unable to solve a stadium problem that threatened their future off the field. But now, that era is over.

Major League Baseball has unanimously approved a $1.7 billion sale of the team to a new ownership group led by Jacksonville real estate developer Patrick Zalupski, as reported by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times on Monday, September 22, 2025. This is a massive moment for the franchise that represents a huge return on Sternberg’s initial $200 million investment. But more importantly, it marks a fundamental shift as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred already said he expects the new group to start looking for stadium sites last week and keep the team in the Tampa Bay area.

But who is the man, Patrick Zalupski, leading the new group?

The new principal owner of the Tampa Bay Rays is the 44-year-old founder and CEO of Dream Finders Homes. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Zalupski’s self-made homebuilding empire-from-scratch story is filled with savvy business vision.

Zalupski launched his company in 2008, right in the middle of the housing market crash, and impressively grew Dream Finders Homes from a small startup into a publicly traded powerhouse on the New York Stock Exchange. The company now operates in 10 states and reported an incredible $4.4 billion in revenue in 2024.

Zalupski has deep roots and a significant influence in Florida, as he graduated from Stetson University and was appointed by the governor to the University of Florida Board of Trustees in 2023. And it’s expected that his first business order as an owner will be — landing an agreement to build a new ballpark — that Sternberg couldn’t do.

What is Patrick Zalupski’s net worth?

As of September 2025, Forbes estimates Patrick Zalupski’s real-time net worth is $1.6 billion. And as per the Builder Magazine, which basically tracks the real estate development industry, Zalupski’s net worth is slightly lower, valued at $1.3 billion. The vast majority of it comes from his ownership stake in his publicly traded company, Dream Finders Homes (NYSE: DFH).

Zalupski owns 1,999,507 shares in his company, and their total amount is $56.47 million, as per a report from insider traders. That report also includes Zalupski’s $6,750,000 salary as the CEO of DFH. And this personal wealth was crucial in leading the investment group, considering $1.7 billion sale price was a huge premium over the Rays’ official 2025 Forbes valuation of $1.25 billion. But Zalupski isn’t just a business person…

About Patrick Zalupski’s family

Patrick Zalupski is a family man who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife and their three children. He was born near Detroit, but his family moved frequently during his childhood. He followed his mother’s path, a realtor, to Jacksonville, to start his career after graduating from college at 24 years old.

Though he keeps his immediate family out of the spotlight, he formed a powerful “business family” to guide the Rays into their new era.

This group includes Ken Babby, the successful owner of two minor league baseball teams. It also features Bill Cosgrove, the CEO of Union Home Mortgage, who will bring his financial expertise to the table. Zalupski also brilliantly partnered with Dr. Rick Workman. Workman was the lead investor who was trying to bring an MLB team to Orlando. So bringing him to the same table when the team is still in Tampa seems like a move that effectively neutralizes a regional competitor.

End of an era

So, at the end, the sale of the Tampa Bay Rays marks a definitive end to the Stuart Sternberg era. But Sternberg’s legacy will be remembered for pioneering a small-market powerhouse that consistently overachieved on the field (four division titles and two World Series appearances) but could never solve the stadium problem off of it. And when the final plan for a St. Petersburg stadium was withdrawn after multiple failed proposals in March 2025, it paved the way for the sale.

Now, the torch has been passed to Patrick Zalupski. While the Rays’ lease at the aging Tropicana Field expires after the 2028 season, a few things remained unclear.

First, the Rays’ team presidents, Matt Silverman and Brian Auld, stepped down before this ownership change. While both of them still remain on the advisory board, we don’t know who Zalupski will put into the team President position. Plus, what will happen to manager Kevin Cash and top baseball operations executive Erik Neander in this new ownership, who guided the team in this tumultuous situation to a 76-80 record, where they played all their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.