Theodore Nathan Lerner (October 15, 1925 – February 12, 2023) was an American real estate developer, and managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals baseball team. He was the founder of the real estate company Lerner Enterprises, the largest private landowner in the Washington metropolitan area, which owns commercial, retail, residential, and hotel properties, as well as Chelsea Piers in New York City. In 2015, Forbes magazine named him the richest person in Maryland. Early life and education Lerner was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in Northwest Washington D.C., the eldest of three children born to Mayer, a 1921 emigrant from British Mandatory Palestine (modern day Israel), and Ethel, who emigrated from Lithuania. He attended Raymond Elementary School, McFarland Junior High, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1944. Lerner served with the U.S. Army as a typist during the latter part of World War II. Using the G.I. Bill, he attended George Washington University, where he received first an Associate of Arts and then an L.L.B. from the George Washington University Law School in 1949. While in law school, he sold homes on the weekends, which piqued his interest in real estate. Career In 1952, Lerner borrowed $250 from his wife and founded the real estate company Lerner Enterprises in Rockville, Maryland. Among the Lerner Enterprises ventures is a partnership in Chelsea Piers, a sports and entertainment complex on the Hudson River in New York City; the Tysons II commercial development; shopping centers including White Flint and Dulles Town Center; and thousands of homes and apartments, along with numerous office buildings. Lerner also played a role in developing other shopping centers in the Washington area, including Tysons Corner Center and Wheaton Plaza. The headquarters of Lerner Enterprises in Rockville was the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certified multi-tenant commercial building in the D.C. area and has been the recipient of multiple design and environmental awards. Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals franchise (then known as the Montreal Expos) was formerly owned and operated by Major League Baseball from February 15, 2002, until the official transfer of ownership to Lerner on July 24, 2006. The Lerner family is the majority owner of the franchise, controlling over 90% of the shares. Lerner retired as managing principal owner in 2018, ceding the role to his son, Mark D. Lerner. Under Lerner's ownership, the Nationals won four National League