Dream Finders Homes CEO Patrick Zalupski is in “exclusive discussions” to purchase the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.
“The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the team has recently commenced exclusive discussions with a group led by Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and prominent Tampa Bay investors concerning a possible sale of the team,” the team’s ownership group said in a statement. “Neither the Rays nor the group will have further comment during the discussions.”
Forbes lists Zalupski’s net worth at approximately $1.4 billion. He leads the other investors in the bid for the Florida-based Major League Baseball franchise that has been successful on the field but has struggled to build a new stadium.
The team was last sold in 2004 for $200 million. Sportico reports the sale price could reach as high as $1.7 billion.
As No. 14 on the 2025 Builder 100 list and this year’s Builder of the Year, Dream Finders had a busy 2024 reaching company records of 8,583 closings, a pre-tax profit of $438 million, and home building revenue of $4.4 billion, which is an increase of 18% compared with 2023. At the end of 2024, Dream Finders had a backlog of 2,599 homes, valued at $1.3 billion; a land pipeline of nearly 55,000 lots controlled; and a 17% increase in net new orders to 6,727 from 5,744 in 2023.
Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Dream Finders sells single-family homes across 10 states in more than 220 active communities. It acquired Crescent Homes in 2024 expanding into the Charleston and Greenville, South Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, markets.
In January, Dream Finders bought privately held home builder, Liberty Communities, which builds in the Atlanta and Greenville markets. “Liberty is an exciting expansion into one of the largest housing metros in the country. It was by far the largest city, in our existing footprint, where we had no presence,” Zalupski says. “We have big growth plans for Atlanta and are already seeing positive results.”
Leading up to the recent growth and expansion, Dream Finders went public in 2021. Zalupski says, “It was a milestone and accomplishment that I always thought was the likely path forward for DFH. We really want to grow, and we feel this helped put us on the best footing possible for long-term sustainable growth.”
Going public during the pandemic and looking back now at the five-year mark, Zalupski believes that in business and in life you must be prepared for the unexpected.
“If you build a great business, you can weather anything the economy throws at you,” he says.
The company’s transformative growth allows it to benefit charities and communities across the country. From 2023 to 2024, charitable contributions increased by nearly 4% for the builder, and it was recognized as a top corporate philanthropist in Jacksonville. Part of that giving includes its educational commitments to the University of Florida and Stetson University.
At the University of Florida, DFH has committed $2.5 million to support public education and the development of a new downtown Jacksonville campus, which will include programs for engineering, architecture, fintech, and medtech. The project will revitalize downtown Jacksonville and drive long-term growth for the region.
“UF’s new graduate campus and Florida Semiconductor Institute will be a game-changer for Jacksonville’s economy. These institutions will accelerate our efforts to create good-paying, cutting-edge jobs and develop a workforce that is prepared for industries of the future. We are extremely grateful for the support of Dream Finders Homes and the role they played to make the campus a reality,” says Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan.
