Raj Bhathal is an American business executive. He is the founder and former CEO of American swimwear company Raj Manufacturing, and is part of the ownership group that owns the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

Early life and education

Bhathal was born in India and immigrated to the US in 1960. He earned an MBA from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. He moved to

Manhattan Beach, CA Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific coast south of El Segundo, west of Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north of Hermosa Beach. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35, ...

after graduation to find an aerospace job, but due to a hiring freeze, took a position with a swimwear company instead. He met and then married his wife Marta shortly thereafter.

Career

Raj Manufacturing

In 1967, Bhathal and his wife founded RAJ Manufacturing in Santa Ana, CA. They moved the company to Tustin, CA in 1978. By 1992, RAJ Manufacturing was one of the largest swimwear manufacturers in the United States. In 2007, his two children led a private equity-backed purchase of the company from Bhathal and his wife Marta, reportedly the largest private equity deal in the history of the swimwear industry. The elder Bhathals remained with the company as directors. The Bhathal family later bought the firm back from private equity. By 2019, Bhathal had exited the swimwear business to focus on the family's asset management firm, RAJ Capital.

Orlando Thunder

Bhathal is reportedly a sports fan and was a Los Angeles Rams ticket holder. In November 1990, he was introduced as the owner of the

Orlando Thunder The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League of American Football from 1991 to 1992. The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Florida Citrus Bowl, and was coached by Don Matthews in 1991 and Galen Hall in 1992. The team's most visi ...

, a member of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

. In 1993, the NFL owners voted to suspend World League operations. The league would relaunch in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

as an all-Europe league.

Sacramento Kings

In May 2013, Bhathal was named one of the investors in a consortium that purchased a majority stake in the NBA's

from the

Maloof family The Maloof family is a prominent American family based in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, who are owners of numerous business properties in the Western United States. The original spelling of the family name is Maalouf. The family is of Lebanese pe ...

, for a reported $348 million. The family invested in several efforts to build a new basketball arena and revitalize downtown Sacramento.

Raj Capital

Raj Capital is the Bhathal family office, founded in 2007 and run by Bhathal's son Alex and daughter Lisa. The firm focuses on investments in sports, real estate and consumer products. In January 2024, Bhathal approved Raj Capital's $63 million purchase of the

Portland Thorns Portland Thorns FC is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL, which received supp ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

Other professional activities

As of July 2024, Bhathal was a member of the

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

board of trustees.

Personal life

Bhathal lives in

Newport Beach, CA Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

, is married to wife Marta, and has two children: son Alex Bhathal, and daughter Lisa Bhathal Merage.

References

External links

www.rajswim.com
nbsp; Raj Swim company site {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhathal, Raj American sports businesspeople American sports executives and administrators Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Indian emigrants to the United States American sportspeople of Indian descent