Just like my buddy Allan, I too want to own a baseball team, although it doesn’t have to be a Major League Baseball team. My dream, actually, is to own the “Tiburones de La Guaira”, a baseball team from Venezuela.

Now, to continue the search of how Major League Baseball team owners made their money, I’m going to analyze the American League West division.

Los Angeles Angels

Owner: Arturo “Arte” Moreno

Net Worth: $970 million

Source of wealth: Billboards and advertising

2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $521 million

Moreno started his career with Eller Outdoor advertising company in 1973 and eventually teamed up with William Levine, founder of Outdoor Systems in 1984. He became the company’s president and CEO. He sold Outdoor Systems to Infinity Broadcasting in 1999 for $8.7 billion in stock.

Before acquiring the Angels he attempted to buy the Arizona Diamondbacks, but a deal could not be reached. In 2003, he purchased the Los Angeles Angels from The Walt Disney Company for $180 million.

Oakland Athletics

Co-owner: John Fisher and Lewis Wolff

Net worth: Combined net worth  of $1.1 billion (according to Forbes.com)

Source of wealth: GAP and real estate

2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $295 million

Fisher: Parents Donald and Doris founded Gap as a San Francisco jeans and music store in 1969. The Fisher empire has more than 3,000 locations which also includes the Banana Republic (1983), Gap Kids (1986) and Old Navy (1994).

Wolff:  Long history of sports ownership.  In addition to the A’s, he also owns the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League soccer.  In the past he has been the co-owner of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League and the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association.

The two purchased the Athletics in 2005 for $180 million from Stephen Schott and Ken Hofmann.

Texas Rangers

General Partner/ CEO/ Owner: Charles “Chuck” Greenberg

Net Worth: unknown

Source of wealth: Sports Industry Attorney

The Rangers were recently sold for $585 million.

After law school, Greenberg began his law career in his hometown of Pittsburgh as an associate and then partner at Cohen & Grigsby P.C., where he practiced for 13 years. In 1998, he joined Pepper Hamilton LLP as a corporate and sports attorney and a partner in the Pennsylvania-based law firm

In 2002 Greenberg formed and led an ownership group that purchased the Double-A Eastern League Altoona Curve, a minor league baseball team in Pennsylvania. On August 5, 2010, Greenberg Sports Group won court approval to purchase the Texas Rangers.

Seattle Mariners

Owner: Nintendo (under the president Hiroshi Yamauchi)

Net worth: $85 billion (Yamauchi’s net worth is approximately $7.8 billion)

Source of wealth: Selling video hardware and software

2010 Forbes Franchise Valuation: $439 million

Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889 and was originally named Nintendo Koppai. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass produce cards to satisfy demand. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan.

Nintendo’s first venture into the video-gaming industry was securing rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey video game console in Japan in 1974. Only in 1977 did Nintendo begin to produce its own hardware, with the Color TV Game home video game consoles. Four versions of these consoles were produced, each including variations of a single game (for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of Light Tennis).

Nintendo purchased the Mariners in 1992 for $100 million, but Yamauchi, then president of Nintendo, purchased the team without ever watching a Mariners game. He lives in Japan, but does not like to travel long distances.