Merritt Paulson

Henry Merritt Paulson III is the majority owner of Peregrine Sports, LLC which owns the Portland Timbers, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team, and the Portland Thorns, a National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team, both based in Portland, Oregon. He is primarily known by the name Merritt Paulson.

Merritt Paulson's father is Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson Jr., an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury, and was formerly Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs. His mother is Wendy (née' Judge) Paulson.

In 1995, Merritt Paulson graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. in English.

He later earned a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Paulson is married to Heather Mahar Paulson, who was a contestant on CBS's television program, The Amazing Race, season 3. The couple has two daughters. The family resides in Portland, Oregon.

In anticipation of acquiring sports franchises, Paulson formed Shortstop, LLC, which was organized as a Delaware entity. In May 2007 Paulson’s investment group, Shortstop, purchased the Portland Beavers and the Portland Timbers from California businessman Abe Alizadeh. The purchase made Shortstop the Beavers' fourth owners since 2001. Hank Paulson, Merritt Paulson’s father, was a minority partner in the company. The Portland Beavers played the 2007-2010 seasons under the ownership and management of Paulson's Shortstop organization.

In 2010, Paulson sold the Portland Beavers, to focus on soccer. Paulson and his advisors moved ahead with plans to remodel PGE Park. The stadium was remodeled into a soccer-and-football only configuration for the MLS's 2011 expansion Portland Timbers. That meant that there was no longer a stadium facility in Portland for the Beavers to play on the AAA baseball level.

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