<P> The longest - tenured general manager in team history is Ed Barrow, who served in that role for 23 years . He was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953 . The longest - tenured owner in team history is George Steinbrenner, who was the team's principal owner from 1973 until his death in 2010 . The Yankees are currently overseen by Hal Steinbrenner, who owns the team in conjunction with his brother Hank Steinbrenner, and GM Brian Cashman . </P> <P> During the 1901 and 1902 seasons, the franchise played in Baltimore as the "Baltimore Orioles". They became defunct, but were purchased by William Stephen Devery and Frank J. Farrell for $18,000 and moved to New York in 1903 . Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston purchased the Yankees in 1915, and Ruppert bought out Huston in 1922 . </P> <P> Dan Topping, Larry MacPhail, and Del Webb purchased the Yankees from Ruppert's estate in 1945 . Topping and Webb forced MacPhail out of the Yankees ownership group due to his confrontational behavior after the 1947 World Series . In 1964, Topping and Webb sold the team to CBS, during which time the franchise struggled . Selling the team at a loss, CBS sold the team to a group headed by George Steinbrenner in 1973 . While Steinbrenner initially owned less than half of the team, he bought out many of his partners, eventually owning 70% of the team . John McMullen, one of Steinbrenner's limited partners, said, "There is nothing in life quite so limited as being a limited partner of George Steinbrenner ." </P> <P> Under Steinbrenner's ownership, YankeeNets was formed after a merger of the business operations of the Yankees and New Jersey Nets . After the Nets were sold to Bruce Ratner, YankeeNets became a limited liability company (LLC) known as Yankee Global Enterprises . The LLC owns the Yankees and the YES Network . Hal Steinbrenner succeeded his father as control person of the Yankees in 2008 . </P>

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