# Stephen Schott > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stephen_Schott > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stephen_Schott.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schott > Source revision: 1357204664 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Stephen C. Schott** (born 1939) is an American real estate developer and businessman, best known for his ten-year co-ownership of the [Oakland Athletics](/source/Oakland_Athletics) of [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) (MLB). ## Early life and education Schott was born to a [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) family in [Santa Clara, California](/source/Santa_Clara,_California) in 1939. His father was a part-time professor at [Santa Clara University](/source/Santa_Clara_University) and then worked as an engineer in the public works department for the city of Santa Clara.[1] As a youth, Schott worked in the local fruit orchards and sold prunes from the trees on his father's property. At the age of 16, he began working on road survey crews.[1] He attended the [Bellarmine College Preparatory](/source/Bellarmine_College_Preparatory) School and then, after qualifying on a partial baseball scholarship, graduated in 1960 from [Santa Clara University](/source/Santa_Clara_University) with a degree in business and management.[1] Both schools now bear buildings in his name (see [Stephen Schott Stadium](/source/Stephen_Schott_Stadium)). After school, he joined the Army, and then when he completed his service, he took an accounting job with Ford Motor Company in [Milpitas, California](/source/Milpitas,_California). After one year, he took a job with a home builder.[1] ## Career In 1977, he and several partners formed Citation Builders, a real-estate and residence-development company; in 1988 he bought out his partners' shares, reformed the company as a family-run business, [Citation Homes Central](/source/Citation_Homes_Central), and moved it to [Santa Clara, California](/source/Santa_Clara,_California). Despite employing fewer than 25 people, Citation is now one of the largest homebuilders in the state of California, and has been responsible for the construction of over 50,000 individual residences. ### Ownership of the Oakland Athletics In [1995](/source/1995_Oakland_Athletics_season), he and partner [Ken Hofmann](/source/Ken_Hofmann) purchased the [Oakland Athletics](/source/Oakland_Athletics) from the [Walter A. Haas Jr.](/source/Walter_A._Haas_Jr.) estate. Under their patronage, general manager [Billy Beane](/source/Billy_Beane)'s novel management and player-procurement strategies allowed the A's, though a "small-market" club, to make the post-season playoffs despite being restricted by financially limited budgets. Beane's approach to obtaining success within Schott's constraints was documented in Michael Lewis's book *[Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game](/source/Moneyball:_The_Art_of_Winning_an_Unfair_Game)*. Schott appears as a character in the 2011 film adaptation *[Moneyball](/source/Moneyball_(film))*, played by [Activision Blizzard](/source/Activision_Blizzard) CEO [Bobby Kotick](/source/Bobby_Kotick).[2] Schott and Hofmann sold the A's to a group of Los Angeles real estate developers, headed by [Lewis Wolff](/source/Lewis_Wolff), in [2005](/source/2005_Oakland_Athletics_season). ### Life and career after Major League Baseball In 2003, [Santa Clara University](/source/Santa_Clara_University) began to develop plans to build a new baseball field, allowing their nationally recognized soccer team unrestricted access to pre-existing [Buck Shaw Stadium](/source/Buck_Shaw_Stadium). The project floundered under lack of funds until Schott donated $4 million, over half the stadium's total cost. The resulting facility—the [Stephen Schott Stadium](/source/Stephen_Schott_Stadium)—opened April 30, 2005, with a game against [Gonzaga University](/source/Gonzaga_University). ## Personal life Stephen Schott and his wife Patricia have three children: Lisa Schott, Stephen E. Schott Jr. and Kristen Schott.[3] His son Stephen Schott Jr. is slated to take over the Citation Homes business. Reclusive by nature, Schott avoids the public eye, and a true estimate of his total net worth has not been released. ## References 1. [Horatio Alger Association: "Stephen C. Schott"](http://www.horatioalger.com/members_info.cfm?memberid=SCH01) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20141018145720/http://www.horatioalger.com/members_info.cfm?memberid=SCH01) October 18, 2014 at the Wayback Machine retrieved October 12, 2014 1. Bond, Paul (June 22, 2011). ["'Moneyball': Activision Blizzard's Bobby Kotick Plays Baseball Mogul in Film (Video)"](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/moneyball-activision-blizzards-bobby-kotick-204635). [The Hollywood Reporter](/source/The_Hollywood_Reporter). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160518153905/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/moneyball-activision-blizzards-bobby-kotick-204635) May 18, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2022. 1. [Oakland Athletics: "Steve Schott Owner, Managing General Partner"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140825021456/http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/oak/team/exec_bios/schott_steve.jsp). Retrieved October 12, 2014 ## External links - [Citation Homes](http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20021123030617/http%3A//www.citation%2Dhomes.com/) November 23, 2002 at the Wayback Machine: official site --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stephen Schott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schott) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schott?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.