Alan Smolinisky
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Alan Smolinisky | |
|---|---|
 Smolinisky delivers address to thousands of new U.S. Citizens at Dodger Stadium. | |
| Born | November 28, 1979 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur/investor |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Alan Smolinisky is an American entrepreneur/investor and part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In June 2022, Smolinisky partnered with Nike founder Phil Knight and submitted an offer of more than $2 billion to purchase the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.[7][8][9]
Smolinisky began his career in commercial real estate in the late 1990s while attending the University of Southern California. Smolinisky partnered with his then landlord Brian Chen. Together, through their company Conquest Student Housing, they built and renovated properties around Campus, eventually becoming the largest provider of student housing at USC,[10] and later at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Conquest became so dominant at USC that the university sued the company under the Sherman Antitrust Act for "monopolizing the student housing market around USC's University Park Campus".[11]
The company was sold to a private equity firm and publicly traded REIT in summer 2008 for $205 million.[12] After the sale, Smolinisky and Chen focused on public securities investment.
Smolinisky and Chen are value investors, an investment paradigm that derives from the ideas on investment that Benjamin Graham and David Dodd began teaching at Columbia Business School in 1928, focusing on acquiring assets below their intrinsic value. Today, that movement is most closely associated with Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren E. Buffett and his late vice chairman Charlie T. Munger.
Smolinisky and Chen manage their own personal capital from Los Angeles with investments in commercial real estate, publicly traded securities, energy, capital equipment leasing and venture capital.
Smolinisky, one of the largest individual shareholders of Jack In The Box (Nasdaq: JACK), was appointed to the Board of Directors on November 4, 2025 and serves as Chairman of the Capital Allocation committee for the company, which owns and franchises over 2,700 restaurants.[13]
The Los Angeles Dodgers
Smolinisky became an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the team's home, Dodger Stadium, in 2019, joining partners Mark Walter, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Peter Guber, Bobby Patton, Todd Boehly and Billie Jean King. In the team's press release announcing his purchase, Smolinisky said "I'm a lifelong Dodger fan and to now be a part of their ownership group is an exciting opportunity and time for me and my family."[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
In a Time magazine piece written by Smolinisky, he described his poor immigrant father learning to speak English by listening to Vin Scully’s Dodger broadcast while he worked as a janitor. Smolinisky has said the purchase was to honor his immigrant father's love of America and baseball.[21][22]
In its 2026 rankings, CNBC estimated the value of the Dodgers at $8 billion.[23]
The Palisadian-Post
In 2012, Smolinisky purchased the Palisadian-Post, a subscription based newspaper that served Pacific Palisades, California.[24][25][26] The Palisadian-Post was founded in 1928 and ran until 2025.[27][28] A 2013 front-page Los Angeles Times profile of Smolinisky quoted him as saying "Pacific Palisades is my favorite place on Earth, and the Palisadian-Post is my favorite newspaper."[29] Shortly after his purchase, Smolinisky shut down the printing business,[30] replaced most of the staff,[31][32] and sold the paper's longtime building due to the printing operation being outsourced. A one-year subscription costed $79.[33]