Billy Beane is considered one of the most progressive and talented baseball executives in the game today. As General Manager of the Oakland A's, Beane shattered traditional MLB beliefs that big payrolls equated more wins by implementing a statistical methodology that led one of the worst teams in baseball—with one of the lowest payrolls—to six American League West Division Titles. That strategic methodology has come to be known as the "Moneyball" philosophy, named for the bestselling book and Oscar winning film chronicling Beane’s journey from General Manager to celebrated management genius.  

A native of San Diego, California, Beane attended UC San Diego, where he studied economics. A first round draft pick (23rd overall) of the New York Mets in the 1980 June Free Agent Draft, Beane played six major league seasons as an infielder, outfielder and catcher for the Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Oakland A’s. Beane joined the A’s front office staff in 1990 as the club’s major league advance scout. He became the A’s General Manager on October 17, 1997.