Pittsburgh Steelers minority owner and LendingTree CEO Doug Lebda was killed in an ATV accident over the weekend. He was 55. WMUR 9 shared the story Tuesday morning, noting the accident occurred on Lebda’s North Carolina farm.
Lebda became a minority owner of the Steelers in 2019 after NFL rules forced David Tepper to sell his roughly 10-percent share of the team after buying the Carolina Panthers. The league prohibits individuals from having ownership in multiple franchises.
Lebda was listed atop of the Steelers’ minority ownership group in the team’s most recent media guide. He was one of 18 individual minority owners along with the NC Revocable Trust group, which also bought a portion of Tepper’s shares in 2019. Other minority owners included Hall of Fame WR John Stallworth, businessman and filmmaker Thomas Tull, and several members of the Rooney family.
“Doug was a visionary leader whose relentless drive, innovation and passion transformed the financial services landscape, touching the lives of millions of consumers,” LendingTree’s board of directors said in a statement, via WMUR 9. “His passion will continue to inspire us as we move forward together.”
Scott Peyree was immediately named the company’s new CEO.
“I got to know and understand the economics of Minor League Baseball, but honestly the Steelers are my heart,” Lebda told the Sports Business Journal in a 2019 interview. “My kids’ too. And my nieces and nephews. My dad grew up in abject poverty in Western Pennsylvania, and I can’t wait to see the look on his face standing on the sidelines at a Steelers game.”
In the interview, Lebda said the opportunity to invest in the Steelers came after a chance meeting with Tepper, who put him in touch with Art Rooney II.
“What I said to [Rooney] is, ‘I will help the organization as much as I can without being a pain in your neck, and you decide what that is,’” he told the Sports Business Journal at the time.
Lebda founded LendingTree in 1996 and grew the company to have nearly 1,000 employees by the end of 2024. He was born in Lewisburg, Pa., outside of Harrisburg. He attended Bucknell University and the University of Virginia, where he studied business.
He is survived by his wife Megan and three daughters.
