William DeWitt Jr.

DeWitt, the son of longtime Major League Baseball executive Bill DeWitt and Margaret H. DeWitt, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended St. Louis Country Day School. He was around baseball constantly as a child; his father owned the St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Reds, and DeWitt served as a Browns batboy. On August 19, 1951, the little person Eddie Gaedel served as a pinch hitter at a Browns game, wearing DeWitt's jersey to the plate. He earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University in economics in 1963 and an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1965.{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/stl/team/frontoffice_bios/bill_dewitt_jr.jsp |title=St. Louis Cardinals: Front office – William O. DeWitt Jr. |work=www.mlb.com |access-date=August 12, 2013}}

DeWitt was part of an investment group led by Francis L. Dale that purchased the Cincinnati Reds for $8 million from his father, Bill Sr., on December 5, 1966.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bSNEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_7AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1196%2C4686433 "Cincy Reds Sold In $8 Million Deal," United Press International (UPI), Tuesday, December 6, 1966.] Retrieved March 2, 2023.

DeWitt joined Cincinnati investment firm Gradison & Co. in 1974. In 1979, along with Mercer Reynolds, he founded the investment firm Reynolds, DeWitt & Co. The firm owns 63 Arby's franchises, whose value has been estimated at $50.4 million and is an investor in Cincinnati-based U.S. Playing Card Company, with an estimated value of about $120 million. It also holds a $40 million stake in Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky.{{cite web |url=http://isbo2o.com/app/content/william-o-dewitt-jr |title=William O. DeWitt Jr. |work=ISB O2O Platinum Profiles |access-date=August 12, 2013}} DeWitt is also involved with DeWitt Capital Group, a private equity firm registered in 2012.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} DeWitt has been part owner of the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles.{{cite news |last=Wagman |first=Jake |url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/bill-dewitt-has-long-strong-ties-to-texas-rangers-bush/article_bdf5a995-72de-5e94-a6b7-22cab32e8a58.html |title=DeWitt has long, strong ties to Texas Rangers, Bush |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=October 18, 2011}}

In 1984, one of DeWitt's business ventures, the oil company Spectrum 7, bought George W. Bush's Arbusto Energy, which, in turn, merged with Harken Energy in 1986. When Eddie Chiles prepared to sell the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989, DeWitt and Bush gathered investors to buy the team.

DeWitt has also held shares in the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals and the former Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association.

DeWitt was part owner of the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on December 3, 1979, when 11 people were killed prior to a concert by The Who.

In 1995, DeWitt and Stephen F. Brauer purchased the St. Louis Cardinals from Anheuser-Busch for $150 million.{{cite news |last=Holtzman |first=Jerome |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/12/26/baseballs-sign-of-the-times-under-new-ownership/ |title=Baseball's sign of the times: Under new ownership |work=Chicago Tribune | date=December 26, 1995}} He oversees all league, financial, operational and baseball affairs for the club. Since DeWitt bought the team, the Cardinals have won two World Series (2006 and 2011), four National League pennants, 11 division titles, and have made 15 total playoff appearances.{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/ |title=St. Louis Cardinals team history & encyclopedia |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=November 3, 2013}} Forbes estimated that the team was worth $1.4 billion in 2014 and $2.1 billion in July 2019.{{cite web |last=Badenhausen |first=Kurt |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/07/22/the-worlds-50-most-valuable-sports-teams-2019/#139c1c62283d |title=The World's 50 Valuable Sports Teams |work=Forbes |date=July 22, 2019 |access-date=July 22, 2019}} The Cardinals are one of the largest privately held firms in St. Louis, bringing in an estimated $233 million in revenue in 2012.{{cite news |last=Liss |first=Samantha |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2013/06/check-out-updated-photos-of-ballpark.html |title=Check out updated photos of Ballpark Village |publisher=website=St. Louis Business Journal |date=June 7, 2013}}

File:Billdewitt3.jpg

In 1997, DeWitt established Cardinals Care, a nonprofit organization that builds baseball fields, helps youth baseball programs, and awards grants to children's boards. Through January 2017, Cardinals Care had distributed some $900,000 a year.{{Cite news|url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/vendors-fans-make-up-for-lost-time-after-weather-shortens/article_546a4a51-9c80-59a6-93c2-556266b0b2db.html|title=Vendors, fans make up for lost time after weather shortens Cardinals' Winter Warm-Up|last=Faulk|first=Mike|work=stltoday.com|access-date=2018-03-02|language=en}} As of 2013, the organization has built 18 baseball fields in the Greater St. Louis area.{{cite web |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/community/youth_fields.jsp?partnerId=2B36Z25O1-5W8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701051019/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/community/youth_fields.jsp?partnerId=2B36Z25O1-5W8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 1, 2013 |title=Community: Youth baseball fields |publisher=www.stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com |access-date=November 3, 2013}} Since 2004, the organization has run Redbird Rookies, a network of 20 leagues for nearly 4,500 children around Greater St. Louis and in rural sections of Missouri and Illinois.{{cite web|url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/community/redbird_rookies.jsp?partnerId=2B36Z25O1-5W8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701045914/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/community/redbird_rookies.jsp?partnerId=2B36Z25O1-5W8|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 1, 2013|title=Cardinals in the community: Redbird Rookies|publisher=www.stlouis.cardlinals.mlb.com|access-date=November 3, 2013}} who would not otherwise have the opportunity. It provides equipment and other necessities to the players, training for coaches and organizers, and workshops for parents.

The Cardinals have purchased three of their minor league affiliates since the DeWitt group took over. In 1998, DeWitt purchased the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League (minor league A-ball) and, in 2005, the Springfield Cardinals of the Texas League (AA). As of April 2013, the team had negotiated to purchase the Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League (AAA) from the Memphis Redbirds Foundation (MRF), a local non-profit entity. However, talks went on hold due to defaulted bonds on the building of AutoZone Park.{{cite news |last=Walton |first=Brian |url=http://thecardinalnationblog.com/2013/07/17/forbes-memphis-redbirds-is-eighth-most-valuable-milb-franchise/ |title=Forbes: Memphis Redbirds is eighth-most valuable franchise |publisher=The Cardinal Nation Blog |date=July 17, 2013}} On November 16, 2013, the Cardinals announced a resolution to purchase the team while the city purchased the stadium. The Cardinals agreed to lease the stadium from the city while Memphis will upgrade the park.{{cite news |last=Liss |first=Samantha |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2013/11/cardinals-acquire-memphis-redbirds.html?page=all |title=Cardinals acquire Memphis Redbirds |work=St. Louis Business Journal |date=November 16, 2013 |access-date=November 16, 2013}} In 2013, Forbes listed the Redbirds as one of the ten most valuable minor league franchises.{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Chris |url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/emdm45eegkg/t8-memphis-redbirds/ |title=Minor League Baseball's Most Valuable teams 2013 |work=Forbes |date=July 17, 2013 |access-date=November 16, 2013}}

To expand the Cardinals' international presence, DeWitt opened baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and placed representatives in six foreign countries.{{cite news |last=Goold |first=Derrick |url=http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/goold-cards-on-the-move-in-dominican/article_e5e7869b-0e19-5700-9944-2d894a7e36a5.html |title=Cards on the move in the Dominican |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=September 2, 2012}}

In 2006, the Cardinals moved from their old home, Busch Memorial Stadium, to Busch Stadium in 2006. The $365 million stadium is one of the few majority-privately funded MLB stadiums, along with the San Francisco Giants' Oracle Park and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Dodger Stadium.{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Bruce |last2=Engel |first2=Margaret |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042800695.html |title=St. Louis ballpark: Lucky Cards |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 30, 2006}} Busch Stadium cost $45 million (12%) in a long-term loan from St. Louis County, while, by comparison the Milwaukee Brewers' American Family Field ended up drawing 77.5% in public funding.{{cite news |last=Jannenne |first=Jeramy |url=http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2009/05/28/miller-park-vs-busch-stadium-milwaukee-vs-st-louis/ |title=Miller Park vs Busch Stadium |publisher=www.urbanmilwaukee.com |date=May 28, 2009}}

In conjunction with opening the new Busch Stadium, a mixed-use retail, entertainment, hotel, residential and office space known as Ballpark Village was planned for development adjacent to Busch Stadium. However, several years of delays postponed the groundbreaking and construction until spring of 2013.{{cite web |last=Logan |first=Tim |url=http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d9zvr |title=Cardinals to Break Ground on Ballpark Village Next Week |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=January 31, 2013 |access-date=February 1, 2013}}

In 2009, the Cardinals hosted the All-Star Game.

DeWitt began emphasizing developing talent as much as possible through the minor leagues, rather than relying mainly on free agents. Seventeen of the 25 players on the Cardinals' 2011 World Series roster were Cardinals' draftees.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}

In January 2014, the city of Memphis cleared the Cardinals to purchase the Memphis Redbirds from the MRF.{{cite web |last=Goold |first=Derrick |url=http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cards-cleared-to-buy-affiliate-in-memphis/article_12263894-f2b0-5ccb-9602-1a4355dbebc4.html |title=Cards cleared to buy affiliate in Memphis |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch | date=January 8, 2014 | access-date=March 3, 2014}} Ballpark Village construction was completed and it opened in March 2014.{{cite web |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/ballpark/ballpark_village.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120222346/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/ballpark/ballpark_village.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 20, 2011 |title=Busch Stadium Ballpark Village information |publisher=stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com |access-date=September 19, 2015}} The Cardinals also announced the rechristening of the team Hall of Fame Museum, with an annual selection process commencing in 2015. Twenty-two former Cardinals players and personnel were announced for induction into the Hall of Fame for the inaugural class of 2014. Closed since 2008, when the International Bowling Hall of Fame moved to Texas, this reincarnation of the museum is located in the newly constructed Ballpark Village within the same building as the Cardinal Nation Restaurant.{{cite news |author=Cardinals Press Release |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126165854/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 26, 2014 |title=Cardinals establish Hall of Fame & detail induction process |publisher=www.stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com |date=January 18, 2014 |access-date=January 29, 2014 }}

The Cardinals' value exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2015 when Forbes appraised the Cardinals outright at $1.4 billion,{{cite web |last=Ozanian |first=Mike |url=https://www.forbes.com/teams/st-louis-cardinals/ |title=St. Louis Cardinals #6 |work=Forbes |date=March 25, 2015 |access-date=July 11, 2015}} making them the 27th-most valuable sports franchise in the world,{{cite web |last=Badenhausen |first=Kurt |url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45fdkgi/27-st-louis-cardinals/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716144442/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45fdkgi/27-st-louis-cardinals/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 16, 2015 |title=The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2015: 27. St. Louis Cardinals |work=Forbes |date=July 15, 2015 |access-date=July 15, 2015}} and sixth-principal franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB). It was an increase from an $800 million pricing and eighth in the echelon in 2014.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlm45fdgdd/8-st-louis-cardinals/ |title=St. Louis Cardinals – in photos: MLB valuations |magazine=Forbes |date=March 26, 2014 |access-date=April 8, 2014}} Their revenue was $294 million while their operating income was $73.6 million, and their overall assessment was approximately $200 million higher than the MLB average of $1.2 billion. Mike Ozanian of Forbes remarked that the Cardinals were "baseball's biggest anomaly", with outsize value outpacing their status as one of baseball's "smallest markets", and Ballpark Village was a popular destination for dining and entertainment. The Cardinals' local television ratings (7.76) graded the highest among all major league teams.{{cite magazine |last=Ozanian |first=Mike |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2015/03/25/mlb-worth-36-billion-as-team-values-hit-record-1-2-billion-average/ |title=MLB worth $36 billion as team values hit record $1.2 billion average |magazine=Forbes |date=March 2015 |access-date=July 11, 2015}}

Reports surfaced on June 16, 2015, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were reviewing an alleged incident involving Cardinals' front office officials hacking into the Houston Astros' database of players, scouting reports and proprietary statistics. It was regarded as the first known case of corporate espionage involving computer network hacking in professional sports.{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Michael S. |author-link=Michael S. Schmidt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sports/baseball/st-louis-cardinals-hack-astros-fbi.html?_r=0 |title=Cardinals face F.B.I. inquiry in hacking of Astros' database |work=The New York Times |date=June 16, 2015 |access-date=June 16, 2015}}

On September 19, 2015, the Cardinals became the first team in MLB to clinch a playoff spot that season. It also extended a franchise record of five consecutive seasons of reaching the postseason, a record which the club had set in 2014.{{cite web |last=Langosch |first=Jenifer |url=http://m.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article/150519226/with-giants-loss-cardinals-back-in-postseason |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923000050/http://m.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article/150519226/with-giants-loss-cardinals-back-in-postseason |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |title=Cards become 1st team to clinch postseason spot |publisher=stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com |date=September 19, 2015 |access-date=September 19, 2015}}

DeWitt has had votes in the Contemporary Baseball Committee in 2011-13, 2016-19, 2022, and 2024.

In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed DeWitt to be on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and tapped his wife, Kathy, to serve on the National Endowment for the Arts.{{cite news |last=Weiser |first=Carl |url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/10/loc_ohdewitt10.html |title=Bush taps DeWitt for inner circle |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |date=October 10, 2003}}{{cite web |url=http://www.artscope.net/NEWS/new0492002-1.shtml |title=Senate confirms appointments of Don V. Cogman, Katharine DeWitt, Maribeth Walton McGinley and Teresa Lozano Long to the National Council on the Arts |work=ArtScope.net |access-date=August 12, 2013}}

DeWitt and his wife, Katharine "Kathy" Cramer DeWitt, live in Indian Hill, Ohio. They have four children, Katie, Bill, Andrew, and Margot and twelve grandchildren. Bill DeWitt III is the president of the Cardinals.{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/stl/team/frontoffice_bios/bill_dewitt_iii.jsp |title=St. Louis Cardinals: Front office-William DeWitt III |work=www.mlb.com |access-date=August 7, 2013}} Andrew E. DeWitt is the founder and CEO of Dewey's Pizza.{{cite web |last=Walker |first=(not given) |url=http://www.columbusunderground.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-deweys-pizza |title=Everything you need to know about Dewey's Pizza |publisher=www.columbusunderground.com |date=March 4, 2009}}

• List of St. Louis Cardinals owners and executives

{{reflist|30em}}

{{St. Louis Cardinals}}

{{St. Louis Cardinals owners}}

{{MLB Owners}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewitt, William Jr.}}

Category:1941 births

Category:Living people

Category:American company founders

Category:American people of Dutch descent

Category:Yale College alumni

Category:Harvard Business School alumni

Category:George W. Bush administration personnel

Category:Businesspeople from Cincinnati

Category:Businesspeople from St. Louis

Category:St. Louis Cardinals executives

Category:St. Louis Cardinals owners

Category:Major League Baseball owners

Category:Cincinnati Reds owners

Category:Cincinnati Bengals owners

Category:Texas Rangers owners

Category:People from Indian Hill, Ohio

Category:People from Ladue, Missouri

Category:Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School alumni

William Jr.