D.C. United Holdings is the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

that controls operating rights to

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

, a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club that is part of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS). The company, founded in 2007, was initially led by

Will Chang William H.C. Chang (张慧中) is a Japanese-American sports businessman. He has ownership interests in multiple sports teams. Chang is an investor in the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Chang is on the USA Rugby Board of Director ...

, Brian Davis,

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

, and

Kevin Payne Kevin Payne may refer to: *Kevin Payne (American football) (born 1983), American football player *Kevin Payne (soccer) (1953–2022), American soccer executive *Kevin Payne (politician), American politician, member of the Arizona House of Represent ...

who maintained his position with the new investors. D.C. United Holdings bought D.C. United from

Anschutz Entertainment Group Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of the Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports ...

for 33 million, which was a record fee for operational rights to an MLS club at that time. In May 2009, previous stakeholder Victor MacFarlane announced the sale of his share of D.C. United Holdings to majority owner

William Chang William Chang Suk-ping ( zh, 張叔平; born 12 November 1953) is a Hong Kong production designer, costume designer and film editor. Along with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Chang is an important collaborator with Hong Kong film director ...

, giving him a 98% stake in the organization. In October 2009, Chang bought out Davis and Laettner, who held the remaining 2%, to fully control 100% of the team. In 2012,

Erick Thohir Erick Thohir (born 30 May 1970) is an Indonesian businessman and politician who served as Minister of State Owned Enterprises since 2019. He has been the chairman of Football Association of Indonesia since 2023 and founder of Mahaka Group, a co ...

and

Jason Levien Jason M. Levien (born 1973) is an American sports executive and investor. He is the CEO and Co-Chairman of Major League Soccer club D.C. United and the Chairman of the Brisbane Bullets, an Australian basketball club. Levien is the former CEO a ...

purchased the club and its holding company, with Chang remaining as a minority investor. Their efforts are primarily focused on getting United a new stadium and enhancing the four-time MLS champions' global profile.

minority stake was bought by rapper

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

in September 2021.

References

* Privately held companies based in Washington, D.C. {{US-sport-org-stub