Jerry Reinsdorf

During his 30-plus year tenure as chairman of the Chicago White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf's two professional sports teams – the White Sox and Chicago Bulls – have delivered seven world championship titles to the city of Chicago and its fans. Fulfilling a dream that began as a baseball fan growing up in Brooklyn during the 1930s and 1940s, Reinsdorf accepted the Commissioner's Trophy from Bud Selig on October 26, 2005, after the White Sox swept their way to the team's first World Series Championship since 1917. Reinsdorf begins his 35th season as chairman of the White Sox in 2015, having matched club founder Charles Comiskey (1900-31) for the longest ownership tenure in franchise history. The Sox have gone 2,749-2,633 (.511) during Reinsdorf's 34 seasons, and every one of the club's top 20 single-season attendance totals have come during Reinsdorf's tenure, including a franchise-record 2.95 million fans in 2006. Reinsdorf has been responsible for the construction of two new sports facilities in Chicago, Comiskey Park (1991), now U.S. Cellular Field, and the United Center (1994). The White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers opened a state-of-the-art spring training complex, named Camelback Ranch—Glendale, in Phoenix in 2009. Since heading the limited partnership that purchased the Sox in January 1981, Reinsdorf has been involved in Major League Baseball initiatives at an industry-wide level. Currently, he serves on the Major League Baseball Business and Media Board, and Reinsdorf also serves on the Diversity and Labor Policy committees. In the past he has served on many other committees, including Major League Baseball's Executive Council, Ownership, Player Relations, Relocation, Legislative and Long-Range Labor Planning. He was instrumental in the formation of the Diverse Business Partners (DBP) Program in 1998. Since then, Major League Baseball and its clubs have purchased hundreds of millions of dollars in goods and services from minority and women-owned businesses, and the White Sox annually rank among baseball's leaders in the DBP program. In 2008, his long history of donating time to Major League Baseball led to Reinsdorf being asked to serve on the Board of The Baseball Hall of Fame. Reinsdorf expanded his involvement in professional sports in March 1985 by purchasing controlling interest in the Chicago Bulls. During his tenure as chairman of the Bulls, the team has captured six World Championships (1991-93, '96-98). In addition to initiating the building of new Comiskey Park, Reinsdorf initiated construction of three major facilities for the Bulls. The United Center, home for the Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, opened for the 1994-95 season, the Sheri L. Berto Center served as the Bulls training facility from 1992-2014, and the brand new Advocate Center, which opened in 2014 and now serves as the Bulls practice and training facility in downtown Chicago. Born in Brooklyn, NY on February 25, 1936, Reinsdorf graduated from George Washington University in Washington D.C. and earned a law degree from Northwestern University after moving to Chicago in 1957. Reinsdorf and his wife, Martyl, have four children and eight grandchildren.