Frank McCourt (executive)
Frank McCourt | |
|---|---|
McCourt in 2016 | |
| Born | Frank H. McCourt Jr. August 14, 1953 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University |
| Occupation(s) | Executive Chairman of McCourt Global Founder & Executive Chairman of Project Liberty Owner of Olympique Marseille Owner of Los Angeles Marathon Former owner of Los Angeles Dodgers Former owner of Global Champions Tour Former owner of Miami Celtics |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 8 |
Frank H. McCourt Jr. (born August 14, 1953) is an American business executive and philanthropist. As of 2023, he is the executive chairman and former CEO of McCourt Global, owner of French football club Olympique Marseille and founder and executive chairman of international non-profit Project Liberty. He was the owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium from 2004 to 2012.
In 2004, he purchased a controlling interest in the Dodgers from Fox Entertainment Group, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Prior to purchasing the Dodgers and moving to Los Angeles, McCourt was a Boston real estate developer, whose family resided in Brookline, Massachusetts.
In 2013, he donated $100 million to establish the McCourt School of Public Policy, the ninth school of Georgetown University. He made a second $100 million gift to Georgetown University in March 2021, for the express purpose of ensuring that "the McCourt School can open its doors more widely and build a pipeline of future public policy leaders that reflects the true diversity of our communities."
In 2016, he purchased French Ligue 1 football club Marseille from Russian-born billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus. The takeover was completed in August after months of negotiations.
In 2021, he founded the non-profit Project Liberty. The initiative has multiple components which includes the development of the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), the founding of the McCourt Institute with founding academic partners Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and Sciences Po in Paris, and a network of partners within the Unfinished network.
In 2023, he transitioned from CEO of McCourt Global to executive chairman and announced Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson, former POLITICO Europe CEO, as McCourt Global's CEO.
On March 12, 2024, McCourt's first book, Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age, was released by Crown Publishing Group.
In 2024, he announced plans to build a consortium to buy TikTok. A year later, in May 2025, McCourt said that he and the consortium's other backers remained "on standby" regarding a $20 billion offer to buy the social media platform.