billy beane net worth

Billy Beane Net Worth

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Billy Beane is one of the most polarizing baseball general managers in MLB history. 

Billy Beane is mostly known by the casual fan due to the popularity of the Moneyball book and movie. 

Moneyball was written by Michael Lewis in 2004 and took a behind-the-scenes look at how the Oakland Athletics competed with a limited budget against big-spending teams.

The Moneyball movie was released in 2011 starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane and it helped catapult Beane’s name even more into the Limelight. 

As a result of Billy Beane’s success within the baseball operations Department at the Oakland Athletics, Beane has become one of the most sought-after baseball minds by other teams and is one of the most recognizable front-office figures in the history of professional sports.

Billy Beane Salary By Year And Net Worth 2023

While it is difficult to get an approximate net worth of Billy Bean we’ll take our best guess at Billy Beane’s net worth. 

Despite Oakland’s limited budget for players, Billy Bean is paid very well as Executive Vice President for the Oakland Athletics. 

Billy Beane also has a variety of other financial interests outside of baseball. let’s take a look at his estimated average compensation as well as his equity stakes throughout various business ventures:

Job

Salary/Equity

Net Worth Estimate

Oakland Athletics GM and EVP

Estimated Salary $3 Million Per Year over 20+ years plus interest

$20-30 Million (after taxes)

Oakland Athletics Equity Stake

4%

$50 Million (estimate)

Various Business Interests

Oracle, AZ Alkmaar 5% Stake(Pro Soccer)

$10-20 Million (Estimate)
 

Net Worth Estimate

$80-$100 Million Dollars

Billy Beane Oakland Athletic’s Estimated Salary

It’s estimated that Billy Beane makes around $3 Million dollars per year as the executive vice president for the Oakland Athletics. 

While baseball players’ salaries are publicly disclosed, front-office staff salaries are often kept private. 

It has been reported that Brian Cashman was paid $5 million dollars per year by the Yankees throughout his last deal that recently expired. 

Cashman is only a GM and doesn’t have the Executive Vice President title like Billy Beane though. 

With his title, I would bet Billy Beane is likely making somewhere between $3M-$5M a year from his position with the Athletics.

Beane’s salary could be even higher after he nearly left the Athletics in the last couple of years to join the Red Sox ownership group on a Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation merger that would have led to his resignation from the Athletics.

This transaction did not go through, but my guess is the Athletics ownership team likely gave Beane a bump in pay to stick it out with the Athletics.

Billy Beane Oakland Athletics Equity Stake  

It has been reported that Billy Beane has a 4% equity stake in the Oakland Athletics which is where most of Billy Beane’s net worth likely is tied up.

According to recent Forbes estimates, the Oakland Athletics are worth about $1.2 Billion dollars. Considering the lack of supply of professional sports teams on the market, the amount the Oakland Athletics could potentially sell for is likely 2-3 times that amount.

So with a 4% equity stake at a $1.2 Billion dollar valuation, he has about $48 million dollars in equity tied up in his ownership stake, which would likely turn into well over $100 million dollars if the Athletics ever were for sale.

Billy Beane Playing Career

Billy Beane was drafted by the New York Mets in the 1st Round in 1980 out of Mount Carmel High School in San Diego.

Beane played 6 years in the Major League’s for the Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and finished up his last year with the Oakland Athletics at age 27. Despite being a 1st round pick, 

Beane had somewhat of a disappointing playing career and finished his career with only 301 at-bats and a career .219 average.

Year

Team

Batting Average

1984

New York Mets

.100 (10 AB’s)

1985

New York Mets

.250 (8 AB’s)

1986

Minnesota Twins

.213 (183 AB’s)

1987

Minnesota Twins

.267 (15 AB’s)

1988

Detroit Tigers

.167 (6 AB’s)

1989

Oakland Athletics 

.241 (79 AB’s)

6 Years

Career Average

.219 (301 At bats)

Billy Beane Front Office Career

Beane bounced up and down between the Major Leagues and Triple A during his last year of baseball and spoke with Sandy Alderson about becoming an advanced scout.

Billy Beane was an advanced scout for 3 years and was then promoted to assistant GM of the A’s. 

The Athletics went through an ownership change in 1995 and the new owners wanted the front office executives to stay competitive while on a much smaller payroll budget.

As a result, Billy Beane and Sandy Alderson began incorporating Sabermetrics into their scouting and “Moneyball” was born. 

Beane became the GM in 1997 and had remarkable success with a limited payroll:

Year

Result

Payroll

Payroll Ranking

2000

AL Division Series

$31,971,333

25/30

2001 

AL Division Series

$33,810,750

29/30

2002

AL Division Series

$39,670,500

28/30

2003

AL Division Series

$50,260,834

23/30

2006

AL Championship Series

$62,243,079

21/30

2012

AL Division Series

$55,372,500

29/30

2013 

AL Division Series

$60,664,500

27/30

2014

AL Wild Card

$83,401,400

25/30

2018

AL Wild Card

$68,530,000

30/30

2019

AL Wild Card

$84,345,833

25/30

2020

AL Wild Card

$35,311,894

26/30

In 2015 Billy Beane was promoted to the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations role for the A’s and overseas the the entire front office operations of the franchise.

Billy Beane Career Earnings

Billy Beane likely made several hundred thousand dollars throughout his early tenure as a GM and after his success in the early tenure of his A’s career he received a large pay bump in 2005 where he was likely making over $1 Million dollars per year in addition to an ownership stake in the franchise.

Beane has had several suiters over the years and he likely has likely seen his pay rise over the last 18 years gradually and especially after being promoted after the 2015 season when he was promoted to the executive team. 

I would guess that Billy Beane’s career earnings from his time with the Oakland Athletics are probably close to $20-$30 million dollars and could be even higher. 

Because baseball front office salaries are typically not disclosed, you kind of have to take a guess at a range based on the few GM salaries that have been disclosed to the public over the years.

Billy Beane’s Business Interests Outside of Baseball

Billy Beane has many business interests outside of baseball, as many companies have valued his analytical expertise in the business world.

Here are a few of Beane’s publicized business interests outside of baseball:

San Jose Earthquakes

Beane has a notable interest in Soccer and is part of the ownership group with the San Jose Earthquakes.

Netsuite/Oracle

Beane joined the board of directors with NetSuite, which is a large enterprise software company that is owned by Oracle. 

Beane likely had shares in NetSuite when it was acquired by Oracle. NetSuite was bought by Oracle in 2016 for $9.3 billion dollars.

NetSuite IPO’d at around a $1 billion dollar valuation so it Billy Beane most likely received a significant windfall from his shares in the company which he probably still owns those shares.

AZ Alkmaar

Billy Beane joined Dutch soccer team AZ Alkmaar as an advisor and purchased a 5% stake in the club in 2020. AZ Alkmaar has an estimated valuation of $60 million dollars so Beane’s stake is worth millions of dollars.

FAQ’s

Did Billy Beane win a World Series?

Billy Beane did not win a World Series during his time as a Major League Baseball player but did win a World Series in 1989 when he was part of the Oakland Athletics as a player for a portion of the year.

Even though Beane spent the majority of the season in the minor leagues, he still goes down in the record books as a part of the championship team.

As a GM and EVP, Beane has not won a World Series, and the furthest the Athletics have gotten during his tenure is the AL Championship Series.

How Much Was Billy Beane Offered By The Red Sox?

Billy Beane was offered a $12.5 million deal by the Red Sox in 2002 but turned it down to stay with the Oakland Athletics. 

Beane explains in the video below how he came to the decision to stay with the Red Sox despite the lucrative offer below:

How Much Was Billy Beane Offered By The Mets?

It wasn’t disclosed how much Beane was offered by the Mets to take their Head of Baseball Operations job in 2021, but Beane did disclose that he did consider taking the job because of his relationship with Sany Alderson. 

Alderson gave Beane his first shot working in the front office with the Oakland A’s back in 1990 so you can’t blame Beane for considering the move. 

Billy Beane ultimately decided against taking the role due to family considerations.

Where did Billy Beane go to high school?

Billy Beane went to high school in San Diego at Mt. Carmel High School where he thrived as a multi-sport athlete. He was recruited to play at Stanford but opted to go pro after being drafted in the 1st round.

Who owns the Oakland A’s?

The Oakland Athletics are currently owned by John Fisher. 

Fisher is involved in numerous sports franchises and is planning on relocating the Athletics to Las Vegas in the near future.

Final Word

While it may be difficult to get an approximate figure for Billy Beane’s net worth, you can get a fairly good estimate of how much he is worth by diving into his ownership takes in different business ventures. Many other estimates online have his net worth value much lower, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his true Net Worth was closer to $200 million or more.

Because Billy Beane has worked in the Bay Area for so long, who knows what other types of private investments he has had access to that may have gone through an IPO process?!