Florida billionaire close to buying the Tampa Bay Rays: Who is Patrick Zalupski?

The owner of the Tampa Bay Rays is reportedly nearing a sale, just months after his plans to build a new ballpark fell through.

Wall Street investor Stu Sternberg purchased a 48% share in the Rays back in 2004 and installed himself as the managing general partner the following year. Sternberg has been looking for a new stadium for more than a decade but he has not been able to secure a new home for the team.

In March 2025 Sternberg officially pulled out of talks surrounding a new stadium in St. Petersburg and his departure has looked likely since then. On Wednesday the team confirmed that a group led by Patrick Zalupski is set to buy the team in a deal worth around $1.7 billion.

“The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the team has recently commenced exclusive discussions with a group led by Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and prominent Tampa Bay investors concerning a possible sale of the team,” the Rays statement says. “Neither the Rays nor the group will have further comment during the discussions.”

Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a real estate company based in Jacksonville. He founded the company in 2008, at the peak of the housing market crash, and was able to ride the wave of a turbulent market.

He took the company public in 2021 and it turned over $4.4 billion in revenue last year. Zalupski is estimated to have a net worth of around $1.4 billion according to Forbes.

The new ownership group has a lot of work to do with the Rays, largely around the question of a stadium. The team’s Tropicana Field stadium was damaged during Hurricane Milton last year and is far behind the more modern venues in the MLB.

While repairs continue on Tropicana Field the Rays are playing at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is the home of the New York Yankees during spring training. Tampa Bay should be able to return to their home for the 2026 season but their lease expires after 2028.

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