SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Sheel Seidler, the widow of late Padres owner Peter Seidler, has announced that she has filed a complaint against Peter’s brothers, Matthew and Robert, and is seeking team control.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Sheel Seidler wrote, “Earlier [Monday], I filed a complaint against Matthew Seidler and Robert Seidler to protect my family and to continue to carry out Peter’s legacy.”
Sheel Seidler’s post also alleges claims against Robert and Matthew Seidler for breaches of fiduciary duty and fraud, and she says the decision to file a lawsuit was a last resort after attempting to resolve the issue privately.
The lawsuit, filed in Travis County Probate Court in Texas, alleges Robert and Matthew misappropriated and misused assets that Peter left to Sheel, his wife.
To @Padres fans, I want you to hear directly from me. Peter and I had a mission to bring championship baseball to San Diego. That remains my commitment to you. Read my full statement below. pic.twitter.com/YW605jZ0P8
— Sheel Seidler (@sheel_padres) January 6, 2025
“Peter made clear that the Seidler Trust, and their assets, were to exist for Sheel’s sole benefit during her lifetime,” the lawsuit states. But, according to the complaint, Robert and Matthew have schemed to take the Estate and the Seidler Trust’s assets for themselves.
Among those assets are the controlling ownership stake in the Padres and an interest in the Seidler Kutsenda Management Company, Peter’s multi-billion-dollar private equity firm.
After Peter unexpectedly died in 2023, Robert and Matthew immediately began pursuing their own objectives, according to the complaint. This included selling trust assets to themselves “at far-below-market prices,” and misrepresenting the trust’s financial situation as an excuse.
Most importantly to Sheel Seidler, Robert and Matthew are trying to appoint their brother, John Seidler, as the Padres' control person.
All Major League Baseball teams have a designated control person, who has ultimate authority and responsibility for making all team decisions.
The complaint says that Peter often spoke of his desire to have his wife become control person after his death, even keeping a handwritten list with “Sheel” in the number one spot, followed by their three children.
But Matthew, the successor trustee, denied Sheel Seidler's request to be named control person, stating that she doesn’t “have the experience, skills, and financial acumen necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of this important role.”
The complaint also alleges that Robert’s wife, Alecia, made multiple racist, profane and hateful comments directed at Sheel Seidler, who is of Indian descent.
Alecia allegedly sent an email to Sheel Seidler stating, “Do you really think this family would work for your f***ing purple ass? You are delusional!”
The complaint also says that given the opportunity to become control person, Robert, Matthew, and John plan to “abandon the legacy that was so important to Peter.”
Press reports saying the Padres would cut salaries, lower expectations and abandon their all-out pursuit of a World Series championship “would have been a gut-punch to Peter,” the complaint says.
- RELATED: Padres vow to fulfill late owner Seidler's dream of bringing a World Series title to San Diego
Under Peter’s leadership, the Padres went from a perennial bottom-of-the-division team to making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade in 2020.
Since then, the team has been back to the playoffs twice, reaching the National League Championship Series in 2022 after a historic upset win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.
With Peter at the helm, the Padres also signed several notable free agents, headlined by Manny Machado, who signed a 10-year, $300 million deal in 2019, the largest contract in team history at the time, and Fernando Tatis Jr., who signed a 14-year contract extension worth $340 million in 2021.
Machado would then sign an extension himself worth $350 million to retake the top spot.
Other notable signings include Yu Darvish, who signed a 6-year, $108 million extension in 2023; Xander Bogaerts, who signed an 11-year, $280 million contract in 2022; and San Diego native Joe Musgrove, who signed a 5-year, $100 million contract, also in 2023.
After the flurry of off-season contracts, the Padres had the third-highest opening day payroll in Major League Baseball in 2023.
In 2012, when when Seidler purchased the team with his uncle Peter O'Malley, the Padres were 20th in Major League Baseball in average attendance. They were second and third in 2023 and 2024, according to baseball-reference.com.
“For the past 13 years, you - the Padres fans – the best and most passionate in baseball – and the San Diego community have shown such incredible kindness to me, our children, and, of course, Peter,” Seidler wrote in her statement on X.
“Peter and I always planned, one day, to leave the team to [our] children. That remains my steadfast commitment. In the meantime, it is my intention to build upon the many recent successes, investing in both the short-term and long-term future of the franchise, and ensuring our dream of multiple championships is fulfilled," the statement reads.
You can read the full 97-page lawsuit below:
The Peter Seidler Fund also posted a statement:
The complaint filed by Sheel Seidler, the widow of Peter Seidler, is entirely without merit. Peter had a clear estate plan. The plan specifically named three of his nine siblings, with whom he had worked closely for many decades, as successor trustees of his trust and Peter himself prohibited Sheel from ever serving as trustee. The trustee is exclusively responsible for designating the San Diego Padres' next Control Person. In 2020, in connection with Peter's appointment as Control Person, Sheel agreed in a sworn document that she had no right to be or to designate the Control Person and that she would not interfere with the designated Control Person. She also stated in May 2024 that John Seidler, Peter's eldest brother, would be the best Control Person for the Padres.
The Padres have already filed an application to Major League Baseball to appoint John.
A lifelong baseball fan, seasoned business executive and current minority owner, John has the right experience and shares Peter's vision for the Padres: ensure there is a consistently competitive team on the field and a best-in-class fan experience, with the goal of bringing championship caliber baseball to San Diego. Planning for the 2025 season is well underway, and we look forward to pursuing the franchise's first World Series title.
