John Jay Moores (born July 9, 1944, in San Antonio, Texas, as John Jay Broderick) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, and the former owner of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Moores was born in San Antonio, Texas—the eldest son of Jack and Katherine Broderick. Jack Broderick abandoned his wife, son John, and two younger sons in 1948. In 1950, Katherine wed again, to Cyrus "Red" Moores, a photographer with the Corpus Christi Caller newspaper, and her sons were given their stepfather's name. Red Moores, by then in insurance, moved the family to Houston, Texas in 1960, and John spent his high school years there. He left Texas A&M University before graduating and became a programmer for IBM. He later studied at the University of Houston where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center. Career Business He founded BMC Software in Texas in 1980 and was the lead venture capital financier for Peregrine Systems in California starting in 1981 as well as ServiceNow, another California corporation founded in 2005. He served as a director of Peregrine from March 1989 to March 2003 and as chairman of the board from March 1990 through July 2000 and from May 2002 through March 2003, during which he cashed out between US$600 and US$630 million in Peregrine stock. He resigned as Peregrine chairman in February 2003 as part of the company's Chapter 11 reorganization. He also founded JMI Equity. In 1994 Moores purchased the San Diego Padres professional baseball team from Tom Werner. In 2009, he began the process of incrementally selling the Padres to a group of 12 investors, headed by Jeff Moorad (former sports agent and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks) for about $500 million. The deal fell through in 2012, and Moores instead sold the team for $800 million to a group led by Ron Fowler. He continues to operate in the IT service management market with continued investments through his venture capital firm JMI Equity. Philanthropy and activism Organizations that Moores has supported include the ACLU, the San Diego Zoo, San Diego State University, the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Center for Children, the Boys and Girls Clubs, St. Vincent de Paul Villages, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and The Scripps Research Institute where Moores sits on the board. His 1991