By this Friday, White Sox limited partners will make a final decision on whether to sell their shares to Justin Ishbia, the Chicago billionaire who is increasing his stake in the team in what many believe is to be the first step to becoming the controlling owner.

For some partners, it will end a 44-year run with Jerry Reinsdorf’s ownership group. For all who sell, it will mark a nice payday.

Reinsdorf led a group to buy the franchise from Bill Veeck for $19 million (or so) back in 1981. For this sale, the franchise is being valued at $1.8 billion. An investment of a couple hundred thousand dollars back in the early Reagan era is now worth close to $20 million. Not a bad passive investment.

But the rich getting richer wasn’t top of mind as we reported this story.

The lingering question is how long until Reinsdorf gives up control of the team? His ownership tenure is well past its expiration date and all Sox fans — I’m not even going to pretend it’s “most” — have been long ready for someone new. No offense to The Chairman, but it’s time.

But the big question is the one we haven’t been able to answer. In fact, White Sox vice president of communications Scott Reifert released a statement to me that expressed this purchase doesn’t include a pathway to control at all.

Every other person The Athletic talked to, in the league and connected to this deal, believed exactly the opposite. But it’s Reinsdorf’s team. And Ishbia’s people weren’t talking.

Still, why else would a legitimate billionaire — this isn’t dad’s money; Ishbia has a very successful private equity firm along with his stake in the family’s massive mortgage business — pass up on an opportunity to buy a franchise outright in Minnesota to put even more money into being Reinsdorf’s silent partner for an indefinite time?

It wouldn’t make sense. It’s not like he’s getting a World Series anytime soon. And he can afford to pay for Campfire Milkshakes.

As you read this column, assume, along with me, that a change is going to happen at some point in the near future. Maybe it will take four or five years, but it will happen. If that’s true, how do you decipher the Sox’s denial?

Perhaps Ishbia has a first right of refusal instead of a guaranteed pathway to control. For this much money, it wouldn’t be a handshake deal. Banks and lawyers are involved.

One person with knowledge of the brewing deal brought up the David Blitzer situation as a possible corollary.

In June 2022, Blitzer, a part-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, bought a 25 percent stake in the Cleveland Guardians with an option to become majority owner in six years.

This kind of arrangement would make sense because it would allow Reinsdorf, who turns 89 on Tuesday, a chance to go out on his own terms and timeline. It would also allow him to pick a successor. He has long said he would tell his family to keep the Bulls and sell the White Sox upon his death. In the past year, there have been rumblings about him being more amenable to selling while he’s alive.

Last fall, The Athletic had a story about a Dave Stewart-led group talking to Reinsdorf about a possible deal but nothing came of it.

But this would be the right move for all parties involved. If Ishbia, 47, were to take over the team, he would be welcomed not only by the team’s ill-tempered fan base but by baseball.

Bringing in a younger billionaire would give fresh blood to a league that is about to go through major changes in how the games are broadcasted and the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners.

Everyone knows his brother Mat led their purchase of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury for $4 billion. (Justin is a minority owner and the alternate governor; the situation would be reversed in Chicago, according to a person briefed on their plans who couldn’t speak publicly.)

How much money does Justin Ishbia have? A lot. Shore Capital Partners, his private equity firm, had $11.5 billion in assets under management, according to the company’s website. That’s up $2 billion since October.

He is building a compound in Winnetka that is rumored to be costing him upward of $80 million. To put that in perspective, his house would be more expensive than the biggest contract the White Sox have ever given out.

That had me (and others in baseball) wondering if Ishbia would immediately pump money into the team even before he takes over. It wouldn’t be a bad investment.

Reinsdorf has been laser-focused on getting the Sox a new stadium, floating a public-private partnership. Ishbia has the money to cut out the unpopular public side of it.

With that kind of possible outlay in mind, I’ll be interested in seeing if he gets a seat on the Sox board. The board of directors skews a bit old as the ages of the six board members (not counting Reinsdorf) look like the jersey numbers of non-roster invitees in spring training.

Jay Pinsky, 76, is the only one under 85. Longtime soccer impresario Lee Stern is still on the board at 98.

This story is about the only positive news Sox fans have gotten since, uh, Andrew Benintendi signed. Their declining interest in the team shows.

The Sox’s attendance last season was 1,380,733, their worst since 1999. It marked just the third time they’ve drawn fewer than 1.59 million since opening their ballpark in 1991.

The team joined the Bulls (Reinsdorf’s other team) and the Blackhawks to form a new RSN called the Chicago Sports Network after their deal with NBC ended. CHSN, which debuted just after the last baseball season, still doesn’t have a carriage deal with Comcast, the biggest cable company in Chicago. In a recent Sports Business Journal story, Bulls local TV ratings have had the biggest drop in the NBA. You’ll need a microscope to see White Sox ratings if there’s no Comcast deal.

With the downturn in revenue comes a massive payroll reduction.

The Sox’s projected 26-man Opening Day payroll, according to Spotrac, is $56.6 million. Last year, that number was at $113 million and the year before, $189 million. (Reinsdorf certainly didn’t get ROI on the last rebuild, that’s for sure.)

How bad is it? The Sox are spending (barely) more than just the Athletics and the Marlins.

This year’s potential Opening Day salary number is almost $20 million less than the Opening Day payroll for the 2005 White Sox. And they still could trade Luis Robert, who is making $15 million.

Speaking of money, two people who might be welcoming Ishbia with wan smiles are Tom Ricketts and Crane Kenney.

The Cubs’ unwillingness to spend like one of the top baseball teams has become a story around baseball. After failing to make a truly competitive offer to Alex Bregman, it’s even more topical.

Spotrac has them 14th in estimated luxury tax payroll at around $210 million, well below the $241 million threshold. They’ve cut salary from last year. The state of Cubs spending is that instead of signing Bregman to start at third base, they signed 40-year-old Justin Turner to be a backup. They traded Cody Bellinger to afford one year of Kyle Tucker. They’re counting on young players to contribute at key positions in the lineup with president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer entering the last year of his contract. It’s not awful, but it’s not great.

Everything in baseball, in terms of money, should be looked at through the lens of the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations between the owners and the players association. The Cubs could be holding out on any more big contracts until the CBA expires after the 2026 season. Expect Ricketts to be hawkish in the labor negotiations.

(In that sense, being a silent partner would be advantageous for Ishbia from a PR standpoint. Let Reinsdorf and the rest fight with the players and then he can come in later and be the good guy.)

It’s important to remember Tom Ricketts is not a billionaire. His father, Joe, is, but Joe has no role in running or funding the team. He just helped his kids buy it. And Tom seems content to run the Cubs with the goal of winning the NL Central, not competing for more World Series. At least in baseball’s current economic climate.

Ishbia is a billionaire and could really pump some money into the White Sox, from a new stadium to a bigger payroll. That won’t really hurt the Cubs’ bottom line — Wrigley Field is Wrigley Field and the Cubs have a much larger fan base — but a wealthy Sox owner would put a cost-conscious Cubs ownership in an unflattering light in Chicago. Especially if he’s successful. That’s also good news for Cubs fans and whoever is making baseball decisions down the road.

Four or five years ago, it seemed like the Sox were going to usurp the Cubs as the top team in town. It didn’t work out. What happens next is anybody’s guess.

When it comes to this story, there are still many ifs that Sox fans hope will turn into whens.