John Staubus Middleton (born March 2, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the managing partner and principal owner of the
Philadelphia Phillies of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
. He purchased a minority stake in 1994 and increased his ownership to 48 percent by 2014. He became the Phillies' controlling owner in 2016.
Early life, education and family
John Staubus Middleton, son of Herbert and Frances (née Staubus) Middleton, was born on March 2, 1955.
The Middleton family descends from John Middleton, who, in 1857, founded
John Middleton Co., a Philadelphia retail tobacco shop that evolved into a manufacturer and marketer of pipe tobacco and cigars.
He graduated from the
Haverford School in 1973.
He was a wrestler at
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
from where he graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1977 with his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in economics. He then attended
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
, graduating in 1979 with his
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
.
Middleton is married to Leigh Middleton, and they have two children, Frances "Francie" Fields, and film and television producer
John Powers Middleton. , Middleton and his wife are residents of
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr (, from Welsh language, Welsh for 'big hill') is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania, U.S. ...
.
Career
Middleton began working at his family's cigar business at age 16.
After graduating from Harvard Business School, he returned home to work at John Middleton Inc. where his father put him on the company's board. Under Middleton, the company bought four tobacco brands from R.J. Reynolds in 1987, transforming the company into a major corporate interest in the pipe tobacco industry, and facilitating the subsequent growth of its packaged-cigar business.
In 2003, Middleton bought all shares in the family company from his mother and sisters, for about $200 million.
In 2007, Middleton sold John Middleton Co. to
Altria
Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc. until 2003) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and medical products in the treatment of illnesses ca ...
, the parent of Phillip Morris USA, for $2.9 billion. In 2015, litigation by his sister, Anna Nupson, supported by their sister, Lucia Hughes, ensued disputing declared company assets of 2003.
[ Through a mediator, the case was settled for $22 million in February 2018. Subsequently, Nupson filed a malpractice lawsuit, on July 15, 2020, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging ethical misconduct by Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis and attorney Bruce A. Rosenfield, who had represented her in the suit against her brother.
Middleton is the president of Bradford Holdings, the parent company whose subsidiaries have included John Middleton Inc., Double Play Inc. (the corporate entity that holds his stake in the Phillies) and McIntosh Inns.]
Philadelphia Phillies
Middleton bought a 15 percent stake in the Phillies for $18 million in 1994. He has been elected chairman of its partners’ Advisory Board annually since 1998.
When Phillies' chairman David Montgomery took a medical leave of absence in 2014, Middleton assumed a more active role, overseeing on-field and business performance, and increased his shareholding to 48 percent. In 2015, Middleton became the public face of the Phillies' ownership group. Middleton committed that the Phillies would have a greater focus on analytics, which influenced the hiring of Andy MacPhail as president, and Matt Klentak as general manager.
At the November 2016 MLB owners’ meeting, Middleton was elected the Phillies’ control person by the thirty clubs, making him the primary person accountable to the commissioner's office for the Phillies' operations and compliance with MLB rules.
Philanthropy
Middleton and his wife, Leigh, share philanthropic involvement in several organizations, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
, Penn Medicine, the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Project HOME.
In 2012, the Middletons announced a gift of more than $16.2 million to the Philadelphia School District, Philadelphia Youth Network, Philadelphia Academies and Drexel University for career and technical education.
In 2013, the Middletons pledged $30 million to Project HOME in an effort to end chronic homelessness by doubling the number of its apartments for homeless people, opening a new medical center and leveraging additional public and private funds.
The Middletons received the 2013 Philadelphia Award, in 2014, for their philanthropic works in the Philadelphia area, directed towards education, homelessness, and workforce development projects.
Middleton serves as a member of the board of trustees of Amherst College, which awarded him its Medal for Eminent Service in 2004, in recognition of his dedication to the college.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, John S.
1955 births
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
American billionaires
American sports businesspeople
American tobacco industry executives
Amherst Mammoths athletes
Harvard Business School alumni
Haverford School alumni
Living people
Major League Baseball owners
People from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Phillies executives
Philadelphia Phillies owners