Key Takeaways
Blue Owl Capital (OWL) co-founder Doug Ostrover has sold the remainder of his personal stake in the NFL’s Washington Commanders, a transaction valuing the team at roughly $9 billion.
The sale was made to private-equity titan Josh Harris, who led the consortium that purchased the team in 2023, according to people familiar with the matter.
The new $9 billion valuation marks a significant 50% increase from the $6 billion price Harris’s group paid for the team three years ago. Ostrover began selling his stake in 2025 and has now fully liquidated his position. Another Blue Owl co-founder, Marc Lipschultz, who also bought into the team in 2023, has not sold his stake.
The transaction draws attention as Ostrover’s firm, Blue Owl, has seen its stock price fall by half in the last year. Investors have grown concerned about the private-credit sector and Blue Owl's exposure to individual investors, though a source familiar with the matter said the divestiture was unconnected to the stock's performance.
Blue Owl's shares have been under pressure, partly due to concerns over personal loans taken out by Ostrover and Lipschultz backed by company stock. The two executives recently removed the shares as collateral for those loans. The firm has also faced redemption requests from wealthy individuals in its private-credit funds, highlighting a potential vulnerability to shifts in investor sentiment compared to peers like Apollo Global Management and Ares Management.
The sale provides Ostrover with personal liquidity while his firm navigates a challenging market for publicly-traded private-credit managers. Investors will watch Blue Owl's next earnings report for signs of stabilization in fund flows and any further commentary on its stock performance.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
