Revealed: Who really owns FC Cincinnati? The titans of Cincinnati business

Sharon Coolidge | Cincinnati Enquirer

In the wake of the announcement that Silicon Valley star Meg Whitman and her husband are investing $100 million in FC Cincinnati as minority owners, The Enquirer put together the first comprehensive public list of the team's owners.

Among the owners are the city's titans of business, headed by Carl Lindner III, the majority owner. During a news conference on Dec. 12, Lindner said his investment is a long term one and the "buck stops here – good, bad or otherwise."

The owners include an author and a former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Two can list Procter & Gamble on their resumes. They sell cars and deal in real estate. Some are in the news on a regular basis, others you may never have heard of. All have local ties, Most live in the Cincinnati region.

"We have such a committed and invested ownership group at FC Cincinnati.," said FC Cincinnati president Jeff Berding, who also an owner. "You see our owners at matches, at community events and other activities both public and private. They offer opinions, support and feedback to what we’re doing... it’s refreshing to see so many of our city’s corporate and charitable leaders so involved in this legacy project.”

Chad Scott, a member of the FCC ownership group, called the opportunity to invest in Cincinnati’s Major League Soccer team, “an absolute dream come true.”

“When I sat down to discuss the possibility of coming on as a owner, I have to admit I was skeptical,” Scott said. “It was an ambitious timeline. As we continued discussions though, it was clear Carl Lindner III had the right plan. Everyone is aligned with the idea that we want to deliver a first-class team to city.”

Carl III and Martha Lindner

Carl Lindner III is co-CEO of American Financial Group Inc. (AFG), a downtown-based Fortune 500 company in the insurance and annuity business. He is the CEO and controlling owner of FC Cincinnati. Married to Martha Lindner, a philanthropist who has a strong focus on education and a passion for helping children.

Jeff Berding

Berding is the team's president, running day-to-day operations. He is a former Cincinnati city councilman and worked for the Cincinnati Bengals in sales before launching FC Cincinnati's USL team in 2016. Cincinnati was awarded an MLS team on May 29, 2018, which began play this year.

[Get breaking news updates straight to your phone. Download our app here.]

David and Blake Thompson

David L. Thompson is the executive vice president of Great American Insurance Group’s Property and Casualty Group. GAI is one of the major components of AFG. Married to Blake Lindner Thompson, daughter of Carl Lindner III and founder of the Blake Lindner Thompson Early Childhood Learning Center at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy.

David Lindner and Robert Lindner

They are cousins of Carl Lindner III and the sons of Robert D. Lindner Sr., who is the late Carl Lindner Jr.'s brother. Robert D. Lindner Jr. is the former head of United Dairy Farmers (UDF). David Lindner is an executive at UDF.

Meg Whitman and Dr. Griff Harsh

Whitman is currently the chief executive officer at Quibi, a mobile-only media technology platform built for easy, on-the-go viewing, allowing today’s leading studios and creative talent to tell original stories in an entirely new way. Whitman is also a past CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise; former CEO and President of Hewlett-Packard Co.; and was the former president and CEO of eBay Inc. Harsh is the Julian R. Youmans Chair in Neurological Surgery at the University of California, Davis.

Scott and Mary Farmer

Chairman and CEO of Cintas Corp., a Fortune 500 company based in Mason that supplies corporate identity uniform programs, entrance and logo mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid, safety, fire protection products and services, and industrial carpet and tile cleaning, and a managing owner of FC Cincinnati.

George and Amy Joseph

An executive at Joseph Auto Group and a managing owner of FC Cincinnati.

Rich Reilly

President of Rough Brothers, a St. Bernard-based company that is among North America’s largest greenhouse manufacturers. Reilly's family sold the company in 2015 for $130 million to publicly traded Gibraltar Industries but he remains head of the local operation.

Mark Knue

President of HBC/GM & Specialty Foods at Victory Wholesale Group. a Springboro-based promotional wholesaler. He lives locally and is a former board member at Cincinnati Country Day; he also is a former University of Dayton assistant basketball coach, according to his LinkedIn page.

Chad Scott

Founder and CEO of Mason-based ePremium Insurance, which sells renters insurance and security deposit insurance. He also is chief revenue officer of Inhabit IQ, a collective of tech-forward companies serving the residential, commercial and vacation rental management industries that's based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Larry Sheakley

CEO and owner of the Springdale-based Sheakley Group, which provides outsourced workers comp and HR services. The company ranked 24th on the 2019 Deloitte Cincinnati USA 100 list of the region's largest privately held businesses.

Brynne and Bob Coletti

Partner emeritus in the law firm of Keating Muething & Klekamp, member of the board of directors of Cintas Corp. and a national trustee on the board of Miami University.

Michael Fisher

President and CEO of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Fisher also is a former president of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

James Schiff

Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati and author of five books on contemporary fiction. Schiff's late father, Robert, founded what became the former Schiff, Kreidler-Shell insurance brokerage downtown and was a former director of Fairfield-based Cincinnati Financial Corp.

Pat Gilligan

Founder and President of Gilligan Oil. Walnut Hills-based Gilligan Oil has more than 90 Goco convenience stores and gas stations in the Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus markets. Gilligan started the company in 1993 with a single store near Ohio State University's main campus in Columbus, according to the company's website.

Jack and Peg Wyant

Jack Wyant is the founder and managing director of Blue Chip Venture, a downtown-based venture capital firm. He and his wife own Grandin Properties, which she leads. Peg Wyant founded Isabella Capital, a venture capital firm that specialized in female-owned businesses.

Bob and Diane McDonald

Bob McDonald is the former CEO of Procter & Gamble, which he led from 2009 to 2013. He also served as President Barack Obama's Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Rob and Julie Heidt

Orthopaedic surgeon who is the former Cincinnati Bengals team physician.

Note: FC Cincinnati is a private company and does not have to publicly disclose its owners. Each of the owners named agreed to be included but there are other owners who have chosen to remain private.