Mark Lerner taking control, expects to follow same path

Rest of family to stay heavily involved

Ted Lerner, the Washington real estate magnate who became the owner of the Washington Nationals a dozen years ago, will cede control of the club to his son, Mark, following a vote by Major League Baseball’s franchise owners Thursday.

The transfer, which gives 64-year-old Mark Lerner voting power with MLB, takes place immediately and is the first indication of how the team will be governed by the next generation of the Lerner family, which does not intend to sell the team. The move was approved unanimously by baseball’s 29 other owners, who were meeting this week at the league’s offices in New York. It will be announced later Thursday.

“On a personal basis, obviously it’s very exciting for me,” Mark Lerner said in an interview before the vote. “It’s something I have dreamed of since I was a little guy. But more importantly, the faith my parents have in me for them to do this at this time, it’s very exciting in that regard. The faith also that my family has in me . . . it means a lot that they’re around to share this with me.”

Since the Lerners bought the Nationals from MLB for $450 million in 2006, there had been no clear path of succession should Ted Lerner, 92, step aside. The patriarch of the family governed by consensus with Mark and daughters Marla Tanenbaum and Debra Cohen, as well as Mark’s wife, Judy, Marla’s husband, Bob Tanenbaum, and Debra’s husband, Ed Cohen.

But it was always clear that Ted Lerner held the power, the veto vote, be it on nine-figure contracts or who should be the manager. Though Mark Lerner said his father would still have input, the family is preparing for a full transition.

“Twelve years ago, when Major League Baseball selected my family as the owners of the Washington Nationals, I could not have been happier,” Ted Lerner said in a statement. “I always knew that someday my son, Mark, would take over my role as Managing Principal Owner. That day has come. I look forward to watching him take the helm and help lead this team to a world championship.”

The change in control leaves obvious questions: Will the Nationals run by Mark Lerner behave differently than the Nationals that were run by Ted Lerner?

“I don’t think you’ll see much difference in the way Dad and the family running it vs. myself and the family,” Mark Lerner said. “Maybe as time moves along, I’ll do things a little bit differently. But at the end of the day, every major decision we make together. And that’s always worked well for us.”

Mark Lerner has worked for and with his father in the family real estate business, Lerner Enterprises, for 43 years, since the younger Lerner graduated from George Washington University. When the family took over the team, Mark was the Lerner who most openly and publicly embraced the role — occasionally donning a full uniform and shagging fly balls at the team’s old spring headquarters in Viera, Fla., or at home at RFK Stadium and, later, Nationals Park. In a dozen years owning the club, Ted Lerner has maintained a lower profile, speaking infrequently. Mark, meanwhile, sits in the first row just to the left of the Nationals’ dugout, often wearing a team jacket and cap.