By Garrett Dvorkin | Baltimore Business Journal
Another Washington, D.C., businessman has joined the Baltimore Orioles’ ownership group.
Mark Ein, the founder and CEO of private equity firm Venturehouse Group, has acquired a minority ownership stake in the team, an Orioles spokesperson confirmed to the Baltimore Business Journal. The team declined to offer more information on Ein’s ownership stake. Bloomberg was first to report the news.
Ein joins an ownership group headlined by David Rubenstein that purchased the team in August 2024 in a deal worth $1.7 billion. The two businessmen know each other well. Ein spent around eight years working for The Carlyle Group, the private equity firm that Rubenstein co-founded. Ein’s addition comes as the Orioles look to better reach Washington, D.C.’s business community, a key goal for Rubenstein.
“I am thrilled to be part of the historic Orioles franchise, the team I cheered for as a young boy growing up in Maryland and it is especially meaningful to do it under the leadership of David Rubenstein who brought me back to the region when he hired me at Carlyle many years ago,” Ein said in a statement.
In addition to leading Venturehouse Group, Ein is the chairman of Virginia security company Kastle Systems, one of the largest private companies in Greater Washington. He also owns Washington City Paper and is co-chair of the board for publicly traded travel company Lindblad Expeditions.
Ein’s rise to prominence in the D.C. business scene is due at least in part to Rubenstein, who first hired Ein at The Carlyle Group. Ein then worked for Goldman Sachs and Brentwood Associates, another private equity firm, before starting Venturehouse. Ein has been involved in the founding or early stage of six companies that have gone on to be worth more than $1 billion.
Ein is no stranger to investing in sports. He was part of the ownership group led by Josh Harris that bought the Washington Commanders in 2023 for more than $6 billion and is part-owner of the English Premier League team Leeds United.
Ein is also a major player in Washington’s tennis scene. In 2019, he acquired the DC Open, an annual tennis tournament that draws some of the world’s best tennis players. He also used to own the Washington Kastles, which was one of eight teams that competed in World TeamTennis, a tennis league that ran from 1973-2021.
At one point, Ein was even an owner of the league itself, having purchased a majority share from Billie Jean King in 2017. The Kastles, which were named after Ein’s security company, won six championships during their 13-year history, which was tied for most in the league.
The addition of Ein adds another D.C.-area businessman to the long list of Orioles minority owners. The ownership group includes Greg Baroni, a Northern Virginia native who owns a handful of local sports teams, including the Aberdeen IronBirds, Chesapeake Baysox and Frederick Keys. Baroni’s company, Attain Sports, earlier this year announced that the Keys will once again become an Orioles minor league affiliate.
Other minority owners with D.C. ties include Lauren Tabak Fass, who spent 11 years working for ArentFox Schiff, a Washington, D.C., law firm, and Michele Kang, the owner of the NWSL’s Washington Spirit.
Photo Credit: Douglas Fruehling/Washington Business Journal