Stephen C. Schott (born 1939) is a real estate developer and businessman from California, best known for his ten-year co-ownership of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

Early life and education

Schott was born to a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

family in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

in 1939. His father was a part-time professor at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic M ...

and then worked as an engineer in the public works department for the city of Santa Clara.Horatio Alger Association: "Stephen C. Schott"
retrieved October 12, 2014 As a youth, Schott worked in the local fruit orchards and sold prunes from the trees on his father's property. At the age of 16, he began working on road survey crews. He attended the

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. In 2020, Nic ...

School and then, after qualifying on a partial baseball scholarship, graduated in 1960 from

with a degree in business and management. Both schools now bear buildings in his name (see Stephen Schott Stadium). After school, he joined the Army, and then when he completed his service, he took an accounting job with Ford Motor Company in

Milpitas, California Milpitas ( Spanish for "little milpas") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José ...

. After one year, he took a job with a home builder.

Career

In 1977, he and several partners formed Citation Builders, a real-estate and residence-development company; in 1988 he bought out his partners' shares, reformed the company as a family-run business,

Citation Homes Central A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

, and moved it to

. Despite employing fewer than 25 people, Citation is now one of the largest homebuilders in the state of California, and has been responsible for the construction of over 50,000 individual residences.

Ownership of the Oakland Athletics

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, he and partner

Ken Hofmann Kenneth Harry Hofmann (February 15, 1923April 22, 2018) was an American builder, real estate developer, and philanthropist. He was an owner of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League from 1988 to 1997, in partnership with Ken Beh ...

purchased the

from the Walter A. Haas Jr. estate. Under their patronage, general manager Billy Beane's novel management and player-procurement strategies allowed the A's, though a "small-market" club, to make the post-season playoffs despite being restricted by financially limited budgets. Beane's approach to obtaining success within Schott's constraints was documented in Michael Lewis's book '' Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game''. Schott appears as a character in the 2011 film adaptation ''

Moneyball ''Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game'' is a book by Michael Lewis, published in 2003, about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager Billy Beane. Its focus is the team's analytical, evidence-based, sabermetric approa ...

'', played by

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CEO Bobby Kotick. Schott and Hofmann sold the A's to a group of Los Angeles real estate developers, headed by

Lewis Wolff Lewis N. Wolff (born December 13, 1935) is an American real estate developer. Wolff had been co-chairman of the Board of Sunstone Investors, Inc. from October 2004 to April 2014. Wolff owned sports franchises, serving currently as the co-owner of ...

, in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

Life and career after Major League Baseball

In 2003,

began to develop plans to build a new baseball field, allowing their nationally recognized soccer team unrestricted access to pre-existing Buck Shaw Stadium. The project floundered under lack of funds until Schott donated USD $4 million, over half the stadium's total cost. The resulting facility—the Stephen Schott Stadium—opened April 30, 2005, with a game against

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, th ...

Personal life

Stephen Schott and his wife Patricia have three children: Lisa Schott, Stephen E. Schott Jr. and Kristen Schott.Oakland Athletics: "Steve Schott Owner, Managing General Partner"
Retrieved October 12, 2014 His son Stephen Schott Jr. is slated to take over the Citation Homes business. Reclusive by nature, Schott avoids the public eye, and a true estimate of his total net worth has not been released.

References

External links

*: official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Schott, Stephen 1939 births Living people Businesspeople from San Jose, California American real estate businesspeople Oakland Athletics owners Major League Baseball owners Santa Clara University alumni People from Santa Clara, California Catholics from California