Key Takeaways
- Kwanza Jones says Princeton repeatedly ignored her inquiries about funding a major campus project until she and her husband, José E. Feliciano, donated $20 million in 2020.
- “We’ve been here, but you haven’t seen us,” Jones recalled telling university officials, arguing that institutions often underestimate successful people who build quietly.
- Jones and Feliciano now lead the San Diego Padres’ ownership group after MLB approved its record $3.9 billion purchase, with the couple holding more than a 40 percent stake.
New San Diego Padres co-owner Kwanza Jones says Princeton University repeatedly overlooked her interest in making a major contribution—until a $20 million gift made the school take notice.
During an appearance on T.I.’s ExpediTIously podcast, Jones recalled contacting Princeton’s development office to ask what it would take to support a residential college, dormitory, or similar project. “No one got back to me,” she said. “I asked again. Waited a few months. Asked again. Still, no one got back to me.”
Jones eventually donated $20 million to Princeton in 2020 alongside her husband, José E. Feliciano, with the money designated to expand the university’s undergraduate population and support greater access and inclusion.
When T.I. joked that the enormous contribution finally got her an answer, Jones agreed. “So, $20 million was just to get the answer,” she said.
Jones clarified that the original inquiry was driven by curiosity rather than a demand to have her name placed on a building.
Jones and Feliciano are leading the ownership group behind the San Diego Padres. MLB’s other 29 owners unanimously approved the group’s purchase of the franchise at a record $3.9 billion valuation, with the couple holding more than a 40 percent stake.
Feliciano, co-founder of Clearlake Capital Group and a co-owner of Chelsea Football Club, serves as the Padres’ control person, but the couple has emphasized that Jones will share influence over the organization’s direction.
Looking back, Jones said Princeton’s failure to respond reflected a broader tendency to underestimate people whose success is not loudly advertised. After receiving the couple’s gift, university officials asked how they could identify more donors like them.
“You all left a lot on the table,” Jones recalled telling them. “We’ve been here, but you haven’t seen us.”
She added that Princeton “finally stopped underestimating” what she and Feliciano had quietly built through years of business, investing, and philanthropy.
Jones’ path to baseball ownership stretches well beyond finance. A former Division I track athlete at Princeton, she won Amateur Night at the Apollo while in college and later landed multiple songs on Billboard’s dance charts.
She also earned a J.D. from Cardozo and a Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine before co-founding the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative, which supports grantmaking and impact investments. In 2019, the couple gave $1 million to Bennett College, the historically Black women’s college attended by Jones’ mother and aunt.
That mix of business, culture, and community investment is now shaping the couple’s pitch to Padres fans. Jones and Feliciano have called the franchise a “family investment” separate from Clearlake, while promising to pursue a championship without sacrificing the team’s long-term health.
“We really are dedicated and committed to something beyond just a financial outcome,” Jones said at their introductory press conference, according to ESPN.
