Are there reinforcements coming in to help Mark Davis?

Everybody knows who the majority owner of the Oakland Raiders is with Mark Davis. He is the head honcho, the shot-caller, and the big kahuna all in one. However, he does not own 100% of the team. There are other owners as well.

One such Minority owner is a hedge fund operator by the name of Paul Leff who co-founded a hedge fund firm by the name of Perry Capital with Richard Perry back in 1988. Leff was the sole Chief Investment Officer (CIO) until the fall of 2012, when he was joined by a co-CIO. Now we know why he split some of his duties at that time, it was because Paul Leff was exiting himself from the position all together. He has officially stepped down from his CIO duties with the firm, according to CNBC.

Paul has not stated his reasons for stepping down into a diminished role with the successful investment firm that he co-founded, but it is an interesting development none the less. Leff is part of a 3-man group of investors (Dan Goldring and David Abrams the other two) who purchased 20% of the Oakland Raiders for a sum of $150M back in 2007. At that time the team was worth an estimated $750M, and today it is worth an estimated $825M.

Though that amount is hardly chump change, the Raiders are considered to be the least valuable franchise in the NFL at that estimated $825M worth. Considering the state of the franchise both in the win/loss column and in their current stadium situation it stands to reason that the current value of the franchise could drastically improve in the coming years.

It will be interesting to see if the minority owner group that Paul Leff is a part of will start taking a more active role in the franchise now that he has freed up considerably more time to do so if he wants to. He is a man who has a keen sense of business, shown by his ability to manage a hedge fund worth $8.9 billion dollars. Leff could definitely be an asset to Mark if he chooses to be more actively involved.

Mark Davis is doing everything he can to get the Raiders their much needed new stadium and to increase the value of the franchise. He needs to make as much money as he can now so that he is able to afford the inheritance tax that will come into play on the sad day when his mother joins his father in the afterlife. With the freeing up of Paul Leff, it is possible that Mark might just have some significant reinforcements coming in to help him out.