A Charlotte CEO bought a piece of the Steelers that Tepper gave up for the Panthers
The CEO of Charlotte-based LendingTree purchased a piece of the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers that was previously held by Panthers owner David Tepper.
Doug Lebda, who is one of the country’s highest-paid executives, purchased an undisclosed portion of Tepper’s stake in the Steelers in November, Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said Tuesday. The Rooney family, majority owner of the franchise bought back another portion of Tepper’s stake, and a third entity, NC Revocable Trust, whose owner was not disclosed, purchased a third portion.
Lauten declined to say how much Lebda and the others paid. But a 5% stake in the Steelers (in the range of Tepper’s former stake) would be worth $140 million, according to a Forbes estimate.
NFL rules forced Tepper to sell his Steelers ownership after he bought the Panthers from Jerry Richardson for $2.2 billion last year.
Lebda was originally interested in joining a group to buy the Panthers from Richardson before the team was bought by Tepper. A chance meeting between Lebda and Tepper led to an introduction to the Rooney family, who OK’d Lebda’s purchase.
“It’s a good investment,’’ Lebda said in an interview. ``But it’s also an amazing opportunity to be a part of what I think is one of the best organizations of anything in the world.’’
Pennsylvania connection
Both the buyer and the seller are Pennsylvania natives. But unlike Tepper, who built an $11.5 billion fortune at his Florida-based hedge fund, Lebda started his business in Charlotte in 1996.
LendingTree, which allows consumers to comparison shop mortgages, personal loans and credit cards, now employs 536 people in the city, part of 1,092 nationwide. Last December, the company received over $8 million in state incentives to keep its headquarters in Charlotte and add 436 high-paying jobs.
This isn’t Lebda’s first attempt to buy a sports franchise.
Alongside former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl, he tried to buy the Charlotte Knights, the Chicago White Sox’s Triple A minor league affiliate, from owner Don Beaver in 2004. Beaver didn’t want to sell.
Outside of sports and business, Lebda is locked in an acrimonious property dispute with former U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, who sued Lebda alleging that the CEO violated design rules in the construction of a mansion next to Pittenger’s in the tony Quail Hollow neighborhood. A trial in the case is underway.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 4:29 PM.