Tom Werner

Thomas Charles Werner (born April 12, 1950) is an American television producer and businessman.

Through his investment in Fenway Sports Group, he is currently chairman of both Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox.

The company produced several shows including The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun and That '70s Show. Werner served as executive producer for the reboot of Roseanne and was the executive producer for The Conners.

Werner was born to a Jewish family of German origin, in New York City; one of three children born to Elizabeth (née Grumbach) and Henry Werner.

He has one sister, Patsy Werner Hanson, and one brother, Peter Werner.

In this capacity he served as executive producer of such television programs as The Cosby Show, A Different World, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That '70s Show, and Grounded for Life.

He was educated at St. Bernard's School in Manhattan, The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, and graduated from Harvard University in 1971.

In 1973, Werner entered television by working for ABC-TV.

In 1975, he became the Director of East Coast Prime Time Development.

Werner was promoted to senior vice president of the prime-time development department in 1979.

While at ABC, Werner was involved in the development of Mork & Mindy, Bosom Buddies, Soap, and Taxi.

Werner left the network in 1980 and co-founded The Carsey-Werner Company with Marcy Carsey the same year.

The Padres missed capturing the National League (NL) West title by three games in 1989, a year prior to the start of Werner's tenure.

Its 89–73 record was then the second best in franchise history.

Werner's entry into sports team ownership came when he and 14 other Southern California-based investors purchased the San Diego Padres from McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc for US$75 million on June 14, 1990.

As holder of the largest financial stake in the ballclub, he served as the team's general managing partner.

Just under six weeks into his new ownership role, he attempted to cross-promote the team with one of his television series in between games of a twi-night doubleheader versus the Cincinnati Reds at Jack Murphy Stadium on July 25, 1990.

He had invited Roseanne Barr, the eponymous star of one of his sitcoms, to perform The Star-Spangled Banner on an evening billed as Working Women's Night at the ballpark.

She comically sang the national anthem with a loud, screechy voice.

After finishing her rendition, she grabbed her crotch and spat at the ground in an attempt to parody baseball players.

The publicity stunt was met with condemnation from baseball fans and sportswriters, some of whom called it either the "Barr-Mangled Banner" or the "Barr-Strangled Banner."

After a pair of winning seasons with third-place finishes in 1991 and 1992, the team fell precipitously into the NL West cellar at 61–101 in 1993, six games behind the expansion Colorado Rockies.

The so-called Fire Sale of 1993 began on August 31, 1992, when Craig Lefferts was traded to the Baltimore Orioles.

In the offseason, Randy Myers and Benito Santiago were allowed to become free agents, Tony Fernández and Mike Maddux were dealt to the New York Mets and Jerald Clark was selected by the Rockies in the expansion draft.

Gary Sheffield was sent to the Marlins on June 24, 1993, Fred McGriff was shipped to the Atlanta Braves.

Bruce Hurst and Greg Harris were moved to the Rockies on July 26.

The trade of Darrin Jackson to the Toronto Blue Jays on March 30, 1993, resulted in a class action filed against the Padres.

It was a difficult period economically in Major League Baseball, which was riven by the financial disparity between small- and large-market franchises and ultimately cancelled the 1994 World Series because of a work stoppage that carried into the following season.

It was on its way to a second consecutive last-place finish at 47–70, but a players strike prematurely ended the 1994 campaign.

Critics at the time attributed this sudden free fall in the standings to cost-cutting measures ordered by Werner and his fellow investors.

Werner was appointed to Major League Baseball's Executive Council and was chairman of MLB's television negotiating committee, where he was an early proponent of the wild-card format that was first implemented in 1995.

In 1996, Werner was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

In 2000, Werner, Carsey, and longtime partner Caryn Mandabach joined Oprah Winfrey to start Oxygen, a 24-hour cable channel which catered to the lifestyle and entertainment interests of the "millennial woman".

Werner first became a part owner of the San Diego Padres in 1990, later was part of a group that purchased the Boston Red Sox, and has served as chairman of the Red Sox since February 27, 2002.

Since then, the team has won four World Series—the 2004 title ending an 86-year championship drought—and qualified for the postseason 10 times.

In 2007, NBC Universal purchased the network for $925 million, and in 2017 it was rebranded as a multiplatform site with a focus on true-crime programming for women.

Werner became chairman of Liverpool Football Club in 2010.

In his time in office, Liverpool have won five trophies, the league cup in 2012, the UEFA Champions League in 2019, the FIFA Club World Cup also in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020 under manager Jürgen Klopp.

As a television producer, Werner formed a partnering with producer Marcy Carsey to create Carsey-Werner.

In 2018, the Red Sox won a franchise-record 108 games and went on to win a ninth World Series title.