The Deal: Ted Leonsis
In this episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly sit with Ted Leonsis, founder of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, to discuss how he came to dominate the Washington DC sports scene. Leonsis shares what he learned from the 'world's worst deal' at AOL and how he's helping the US capital become a 'super city' by investing in its teams.
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Fox News
5 hours ago
- Fox News
Alex Rodriguez has bittersweet reaction to Pete Rose's Hall of Fame eligibility
Pete Rose may finally be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2028. December 2027 is the first time MLB's all-time hits leader will officially be considered for a plaque in Cooperstown after Major League Baseball announced last month that those on the game's ineligible list are taken off after they die. The Hall ruled in 1991 that it would follow MLB's ineligible list and not consider anyone on it. Now that Rose is off, he is eligible for induction through the Hall's Classic Era Committee, which does not meet for another 2½ years. If and when Rose gets in, he will not be there to celebrate it. He died in September at the age of 83. For Alex Rodriguez, who has a compelling Cooperstown case of his own, it's bittersweet. "It makes me happy and sad at the same time because Pete was such a friend, and I know that his heart ached a lot because he wasn't in," Rodriguez, who worked with Rose at FOX, said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. "I wish more than anything that that could have been done while he was alive. "You know, I always say that eulogies should be done when you're living, not when you're dead, because some of the nicest things about people are never heard by the principal. But, you know, hopefully his family enjoys it, and I know that he's somewhere watching it. And I hope that he's happy and proud. We are, certainly." The former New York Yankees star, though, isn't focused on whether the argument for Rose would eventually help his own cause, considering his performance-enhancing drug involvement. "It's not my argument to fight. I'm just trying to do the best I can with my life and the back nine of my life and trying to do things the right way. I've learned from my mistakes. I've moved on. I hope to get in one day, but, again, I think I'll let other people fight that fight for me," he said. Rose admitted to gambling in 2004 after years of claiming his innocence. He died in September and predicted 10 days before his death he would not make the Hall of Fame until after he died, if at all. It was determined that Rose gambled on the Reds, only to win, while he was both a manager and a player. It was reported more recently, though, that Rose also gambled on baseball before he became a manager. He was ruled ineligible in 1989 and was never reinstated while he was alive despite numerous attempts. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
I grew my ex's limousine company from $200,000 to $33 million when I sold it. He stayed at home with our 4 kids while I was the CEO.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kristina Bouweiri, owner of Reston Limousine. It has been edited for length and clarity. I never planned on being in the limousine industry. I thought I'd follow in my father's footsteps and join the Foreign Service. I was born in Japan and spent 20 years living overseas because of his job. I studied international affairs in college, worked on women's empowerment projects in Somalia, and planned to make an impact in the nonprofit world. But when I returned to the US, the only job I could find was 100% commission sales. One of my cold calls was to a man named William Bouweiri, who owned a small limousine company in Northern Virginia. That call changed my life. We started dating, and four months later, he asked me to leave my job and join him in his business. I did, and within a year, we were married. Reston Limousine was a small operation when I came on board My husband focused on corporate clients — he had only five cars and made $200,000 in yearly revenue. But I saw potential elsewhere. I pushed for proms, weddings, and eventually government contracts. I cold-called brides from purchased lists, and within a year, we were doing 100 weddings every weekend. In the '90s, we were in the right place at the right time. We landed government shuttle contracts, and tech companies like AOL became clients. Revenue soared to $5 million. Eventually, we grew to 240 vehicles with contracts across the region. I struggled with infertility for five years. As hard as it was, it gave me time to work 16-hour days during those early startup years. When my twins were born, I had a business that could support maternity leave and a team to run operations. He stayed home with the kids while I ran the company After 9/11, everything stopped. Corporate travel froze, events were canceled, and contracts paused. One of the biggest blows came when our bank dropped us, saying our 50 buses in D.C. were a potential terrorist target. We'd never missed a payment, but we lost financing overnight. It took six months to find a new bank and five years to return to profitability. During that time, my husband and I decided he'd stay home with our four kids while I ran the business. That's when I fully stepped into the CEO role. We were tested again during the 2008 recession, and when the pandemic hit. That was the hardest. We laid off 300 of our 450 employees. I refunded $1 million in deposits with no revenue coming in, and I didn't know if we'd survive. The PPP loan saved us. During that downtime, I brought in consultants, eliminated redundancies, cut unnecessary software, and streamlined operations. Coming out of the pandemic, we were leaner, more profitable, and better prepared. Despite our growth, I still faced challenges as a woman in a male-dominated industry. I've walked into meetings where no one would look me in the eye or speak directly to me, even though I was the CEO. But it didn't faze me, I knew my worth. Over the years, I paid for three of my children to attend college and watched my son grow into an exceptional sales director at Reston Limousine. He even landed our Major League Soccer account, leading to a major transportation opportunity in 2024. I sold my company And after more than 30 years, I sold Reston Limousine this April for $32.9 million. I'll stay on for three years to support the transition, but I'm proud to say I paid off the loan I used to buy out my ex-husband and built one of the top limousine companies in the country. My biggest accomplishment isn't just the size of the company. It's that I had the courage to leave a marriage, buy the company on my own, and run it while raising four kids. I proved women can lead — and succeed — in any industry.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Fox News
Ex-Yankees star Alex Rodriguez says Aaron Judge 'needs' an October moment to be a true franchise legend
For the New York Yankees, it is always World Series or bust. Of course, the Bronx Bombers have 27 titles to their name, and that includes a record 18-year drought from 1978 to 1996. But, after a new dynasty won four titles in five years, expectations changed once again. The Yankees, still, are a perennial postseason team, not having finished under .500 since 1993. Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez knew all about the expectations when he went from the Texas Rangers to the Yankees in 2004. Rodriguez made the postseason in all but three of his seasons with the Yankees (not including when he missed the 2014 season due to suspension). But today, he is part owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx. And while on the diamond, anything short of a title was a failure, he admits that as an owner, "you have to adjust" your expectations. "At the end of the day, it's so hard to win, and there's so many different resources. The days of the Yankees winning four out of five years, those days are long gone, because the business models have changed, people are competing from a different point of view, the league structures are different, whether it's the luxury tax in baseball, there's different elements that are pushing and pulling," Rodriguez said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. "But I think that winning is more being one of the most respected organizations sports to treating your fans an impeccable way, your players or organization, and then your partners, your sponsorships and stuff like that, and then having a consistent winner that has an opportunity to strike every year. So I think when you think about winning and bust-or-nothing, it's more about the behavior of an organization versus just black and white winning a championship." But the Yankees still have All-Star Aaron Judge, who, if it weren't for the Houston Astros' Jose Altuve in 2017, would be vying for his fourth MVP Award. His regular-season numbers are astonishing, but so are his postseason stats… in the opposite direction. Since the start of the 2022 season (entering Thursday), Judge has MLB highs in WAR (30.9), home runs (178) and OPS (1.124). But in October, he's hit just .205 with a .768 OPS. Rodriguez was polarizing in New York from day one — he was the superstar shortstop with the largest sports contract of all time who didn't exactly praise Yankees great Derek Jeter in a now-infamous quote — whereas Judge is much more universally loved, being a homegrown Yankee. However, that love is not unanimous because of Judge's postseason struggles. And if he wants to be forever in Yankees lore, Judge "needs" to find success in October, according to Rodriguez. "I mean, I'm probably the one guy that can answer this from a personal experience more than anybody," said Rodriguez, who notoriously struggled in autumn with the Bombers before carrying the Yankees to their 2009 World Series title. "I can tell you that for me, 2004 was just an absolute debacle, being up 3-0 against the [Boston] Red Sox and then losing four in a row. And for five years, I basically did not sleep comfortably, until five years later in '09, we brought it home and dropped the hammer. So I think he needs a moment like that. I think he will get one. I think being part of the Yankees and that lore is you're going to get cracks at it every single year. So that's on his side, the talent's on his side, and the more at-bats, the more reps he gets, the chances increase. And when he does, it's going to be such an enormous win for everybody, and it's going to be an elephant off his back." The Yankees, though, didn't exactly fare well in their World Series rematch last week against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They dropped two of the three games, including one contest where they were trounced 18-2 (both of the Yankees' runs came on solo Judge homers). Rodriguez is a partner with Lysol, which cleans up the stink — and the Yanks certainly could have used some in Los Angeles' Chavez Ravine. The ex-Yankees slugger recently surprised a local umpire in Miami Beach with some Lysol. "Umpires are unsung heroes of the game, and it was great to show my appreciation for the work they do on and off the field," he said. "Lysol is just an incredible company to partner with. We've had a tremendous partnership, and one of the things we want to do is make impact in the community and recognize people that often don't get recognized." One player's impact that the Yankees are certainly missing is that of right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole. And while the rotation has been a pleasant surprise, even with Cole's Tommy John surgery and Rookie of the Year Luis Gil's lat injury, an incomplete Yankees team is no match for the reigning World Series champs, Rodriguez thinks. "I think if you zoom out, I think it's obvious to me with enough data points that the National League is far superior than the American League. So that's one macro thought. And then obviously, the Dodgers have the Yankees' number," Rodriguez said. "It was great that they were able to salvage the series by at least winning one game and not getting swept. But look, when you have someone like Gerrit Cole hurt, the Yankees can still get through some pedestrian teams in the American League, but it's obvious that when you play the Dodgers, you need your full team and then some, and even that may not be enough." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
