Brotherly Feud Over Control of Orioles Heads to Court

The fight for control of the Baltimore Orioles that occurred mostly in private in recent years became very public in a lawsuit obtained by Front Office Sports. 

Louis Angelos alleged in the civil complaint that his brother, John, manipulated their mother, Georgia, to seize control of the team as the family patriarch, longtime Orioles owner Peter Angelos, was left “disabled” after an aortic valve failure in 2017.

The attorneys for Louis Angelos asked a Maryland court for an injunction to restrain Louis’ brother and mother from selling either the Orioles or MASN, the regional sports network controlled by the Orioles. 

The lawsuit also seeks the removal of Louis’ brother as co-trustee and Peter Angelos, a co-agent of the trust that went into effect in 2017. 

“If Mr. Angelos could speak to this situation, he would vociferously reject any effort by an adult child presuming to override his will. Mr. Angelos’ infirmity requires this Court to act where he cannot,” the lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. 

The Baltimore Banner was the first outlet to report about the lawsuit. 

“Peter Angelos created a trust for the express purpose of ensuring that his sons would share equally in decision-making and inheritance of all family assets, including the Orioles,” Jeffrey Nusinov and Paul Raschke, the attorneys for Louis Angelos, said in a statement to FOS. “John Angelos, however, has been working secretly to undermine his father’s intentions and to gain unilateral control. Lou Angelos is compelled to bring this action to set things right.”

Peter Angelos, 92, purchased the Orioles for $173 million in 1993. The team is currently valued at $1.4 billion. 

An Orioles spokesperson declined comment when reached by FOS Thursday night. 

The complaint alleges that John Angelos “concealed and misrepresented the facts, feeding his mother a steady diet of half-truths and prevarications” about the Orioles. 

“He acted unilaterally and informed Mrs. Angelos about his unilateral actions only after the fact,” the complaint states. “He worked steadily, and stealthily, to undermine her confidence in his brother, Lou, and to exclude him from business matters at the Orioles.He fired long-time employees who would not play ball and surrounded himself with yes-men.”

According to the complaint, that deception included misleading their mother about a potential sale of the team, something she favored. 

John Angelos told Georgia Angelos in February 2021 “that a sale was only three to four months away.”

“In fact, as his attorney subsequently acknowledged, at no time — then or since — has John conducted any discussions for the sale of the team,” the lawsuit alleges.