Malcolm Glazer

Tampa tycoon inherited watch-parts business from father at 15; eventually expanded family empire into shopping malls, sports teams. Shopping: today owns 7 million square feet of retail space. Sports: owns pro football's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, English soccer giant Manchester United. Man U won both English Premier League and Champions League in May, but massive debt load continues to hamper profitability despite rising revenues. Sons now manage family assets. In the 1950s, he dropped out of college to run a watch repair and jewelry business and then expanded into real estate, buying duplexes and mobile homes in Rochester, according to The Orlando Sentinel. Mr. Glazer became the chief executive of First Allied Corporation, a holding company for his family investments. He had interests in shopping centers, restaurants, food packaging and supplies, broadcasting, nursing homes, banking and natural gas. Mr. Glazer bought the Buccaneers in 1995 from the estate of their owner, Hugh Culverhouse, for $192 million, a league record at the time. The team soon thrived with three of Mr. Glazers’s sons — Joel, Bryan and Edward — overseeing day-to-day activities as executive vice presidents. In May 2005, Mr. Glazer gained control of Manchester United — valued at $1.47 billion — by buying 75 percent of the stock. He soon bought up virtually all the shares. Joel and Bryan, officials of the Buccaneers, and Avram were named to the board, overseeing major commercial decisions, while David Gill, the club’s chief executive, handled daily administration. In addition to his wife and his sons Joel, Bryan and Edward, Mr. Glazer’s survivors include two other sons, Avram and Kevin, and a daughter, Darcie. Mr. Glazer had a stroke in 2006 that impaired his speech and his mobility in his right arm. His family has represented him in running the football and soccer franchises. The Buccaneers said Wednesday that Mr. Glazer’s wife, Linda, along with their five sons and a daughter, would continue family ownership under a long-established estate succession plan.