Labor leader Ryan Boyer’s board post at Sixers partner’s investment firm comes under scrutiny
The union leader’s compensation package included $60,000 in cash and $90,000 in stocks in fiscal year 2023, federal records show.
Hours before City Council was to vote on the Sixers arena Wednesday, critics of the project took issue with a six-figure compensation package that labor leader and arena champion Ryan Boyer earns at an investment firm cofounded by arena partner David Adelman.
Boyer, leader of the Building Trades Council and longtime business manager for Laborers District Council, owns nearly 10,000 shares in a real estate investment trust fund managed by FS Investments, which is valued at more than $223,600, according to federal securities disclosures. Since 2021, Boyer has held a board post on FS Credit REIT, one of about half a dozen funds managed by the Philadelphia-based investment company where Adelman serves as vice chairman.
The shares were given to Boyer as part of the firm’s board compensation policy, the company said Wednesday. The union leader’s compensation package included $60,000 in cash and $90,000 in stocks in fiscal year 2023, federal records show.
Outside board members at FS — a who’s who of power players in Philadelphia political, civic, and business spheres — received similar $150,000 compensation packages. And that list notably includes several executives at Comcast, the most prominent and deep-pocketed critic of the arena proposal.
“FS Investments has no involvement with the arena, financial or otherwise,” Melanie Hemmert, head of corporate communications at FS, said in an email.
As leader of the city’s powerful labor coalition, Boyer has been a prominent ally to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, using his political weight to propel her mayoral campaign and later helping shape her administration team. He was also an early backer of the arena proposal, which he argues would create thousands of jobs for his members.
His most recent acquisition of FS shares was reported on Nov. 1, at the height of the debate over the proposed arena and its impact on neighboring Chinatown. Black Philly for Chinatown, one of several anti-arena advocacy groups, called out Boyer in an Instagram post Wednesday.
”Ryan Boyer is poised to get rich off this arena deal,” the post said. “This was never about an arena or the people of Philadelphia — it’s always been about land, money, and billionaires.”
Boyer’s tenure on the board predates the Sixers’ $1.5 billion arena proposal for East Market Street.
Joel Trigiani, an attorney for Laborers District Council, said that Boyer’s position on the FS board did not violate any federal labor rules. The attorney said the work also did not pose any conflict with Boyer’s advocacy for his members around the Sixers arena — a proposal that Boyer and his union coalition view as a jobs generator for years to come.
”As counsel, if there’s any possible conflict, I’d tell him to resign [from the FS board],” Trigiani said. “We pay attention to everything.”
Laborers District Council does not invest any pension plans or member benefits through FS Investments, Trigiani said. The Inquirer could not immediately confirm whether any of the 30-plus unions in the Building Trades Council invested in FS funds.
Boyer became leader of the politically powerful labor organization in 2021 after its former leader, John J. Dougherty, was found guilty of federal bribery charges.
Since that year, he has provided oversight to the FS credit REIT fund, overseeing the fund’s business affairs, investment activities, and corporate governance activities, Hemmert said. Board members for the fund range from Temple University board president John Fry to Comcast executive Karen Dougherty Buchholz. (Comcast Spectator CEO Daniel J. Hilferty also sits on the board of a separate FS fund.)
As lobbyists pressured City Council from both sides Wednesday, Chinatown advocates sought to highlight Boyer’s ties to Adelman through the FS board, which had been publicly discussed in the context of the arena debate.
A billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Campus Apartments, Adelman also serves as vice chairman and a board member at FS. In 2022, he became a limited partner in the 76ers ownership group, buying less than a 10% stake at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. He serves as lead developer on the proposed arena project alongside team co-owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires publicly traded companies to disclose investments held by board members and other directors.
Council delayed its vote on the arena project until Thursday morning as lawmakers continue negotiations.