When the Boston Red Sox were in the midst of an early-season swoon, the principal owner of the holding company that controls the team was moved to make rare public comments. “When I arrived to live and work in Boston 25 years ago, I was told if you win the World Series in Boston, you’ll never have to buy another drink in this town,” Fenway Sports Group’s John Henry recalled in May.

Unfortunately, “it doesn’t actually work that way,” lamented the 76-year-old billionaire, who has become a lightning rod for criticism—including some “sell the team” chants from Boston’s notoriously passionate fans—even after snapping an 86-year drought with a storybook championship in 2004 and adding three more World Series rings in the ensuing 14 years.

Perhaps that is why Mike Gordon, Fenway Sports Group’s president, prefers to stay anonymous.

Unlike Henry, whose face is recognizable to most Red Sox fans and who can often be spotted in the owners’ box at home games, and Tom Werner, the group’s billionaire chairman, who likewise has spoken publicly about the team over their quarter-century of ownership, few fans would recognize Gordon well enough to buy him a drink even if they wanted to. Still, the 61-year-old partner owns a stake of around 10% in FSG, which Forbes values at around $1.4 billion, making him a billionaire.

After living in Boston for nearly two decades, Gordon joined the ownership group in 2001 for its successful bid of approximately $700 million for the Red Sox, Fenway Park and regional sports network NESN, and he was around for the group’s subsequent acquisitions of sports assets including the Nascar team now known as RFK Racing and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, purchased in 2021 and sold two months........

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