Background and career
Michael Ilitch Sr. (July 20, 1929 – February 10, 2017), also known as "Mr. I", was an American entrepreneur and restaurateur. He founded Little Caesars in 1959 and later owned two Detroit professional sports franchises: the Detroit Red Wings (1982–2017) of the National Hockey League and the Detroit Tigers (1992–2017) of Major League Baseball. A second-generation American of Macedonian descent, Ilitch was also active in Detroit real-estate redevelopment, including the restoration of the Fox Theatre and the relocation of his corporate headquarters to that venue.
Ilitch was born in Detroit in 1929 to Macedonian immigrants Sotir and Sultana Ilitch. His father was a tool and die maker. A graduate of Cooley High School in Detroit, Michigan, Ilitch served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years.
After returning to Detroit, Ilitch signed with the Detroit Tigers organization for a reported $3,000 and played four seasons (1952–1955) in the minors, primarily as a second baseman in the Tigers, New York Yankees, and Washington Senators systems. A knee injury ended his playing career. After leaving baseball, Ilitch and his wife Marian founded the pizza company Little Caesars Pizza Treat in Garden City, Michigan in 1959. In 1999, the Ilitches established Ilitch Holdings, Inc. to provide their various enterprises with professional and technical services, and held the titles of chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively. The combined total revenues for these enterprises in 2007 reportedly exceeded $1.8 billion. Ilitch had fallen off Forbes magazine's annual list of the "400 Richest Americans", but in 2006 he returned to the list at No. 242. As of December 2016, he was No. 86 on the Forbes 400 and had an estimated net worth of $6.1 billion. In 2000, Ilitch and his wife appointed two of their children as co-presidents of Ilitch Holdings, Inc.: Christopher Ilitch and daughter Denise Ilitch, an attorney. Christopher Ilitch was named to the new post of CEO and president. Denise Ilitch later left the company "to pursue other opportunities."
In an era of experimentation in sports leagues, the Detroit Wheels were a football team that played in the World Football League for the 1974 season. Ilitch was part of a 33-person consortium (including Motown singer Marvin Gaye) that funded the ill-fated WFL team which would not even last the inaugural season in the start-up league.
The Detroit Caesars were a professional softball team that began play in the American Professional Slow Pitch Softball League (APSPL) in 1977. The team disbanded after the 1979 season. Prior to formalized professional play, a major sponsor of amateur softball in the Detroit area was Little Caesars, who sponsored the 1970 American Softball Association national championship team. With the formation of a professional league, Ilitch formed a team in his first solo step into professional sports ownership. The Caesars played at Memorial Field in East Detroit and featured former Detroit Tiger stars Jim Northrup, Mickey Stanley, Jim Price and Norm Cash, along with established softball players such as Mike Nye, Ronnie Ford, Mike Gouin, Bert Smith, and Tex Collins. The team was led by manager Gary Vitto, earning the team two championships before disbanding after the 1979 season. Vitto would go on to serve as General Manager of the Detroit Drive of the Arena Football League and then served in the front office of the Detroit Tigers, both owned by Ilitch.
In 1982, Ilitch purchased the Detroit Red Wings from Bruce Norris for US$8 million. Over the next two decades, Detroit returned to perennial playoff contention, winning the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008 and appearing in the Finals three times between the 1994–95 and 1997–98 seasons. The Red Wings added two more championships in 2002 and 2008. Prior to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Forbes magazine ranked the Red Wings as the fifth-most valuable franchise in the NHL, despite a $16 million operating loss. For the 2007–2008 hockey season, the team won the President's Trophy for the best record in the NHL for the sixth time—the most of any NHL team since the President's Trophy was introduced in 1985–1986. The Red Wings made the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons through 2015–2016. The 25 consecutive playoff berths were the longest active streak of post-season appearances in all of the North American professional sports, before ending in the 2016–2017 season. It is tied for third all-time in NHL history after 29 consecutive appearances by the Boston Bruins from 1967–1968 to 1995–1996, 28 consecutive trips by the Chicago Blackhawks from 1969–1970 through 1996–1997, and is tied with the 25 consecutive appearances by the St. Louis Blues from 1979–1980 to 2003–2004.
