William DeWitt, Jr.

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William O. DeWitt, Jr. (born August 31, 1941), an American businessman and noted George W. Bush campaign contributor, is currently the managing partner and chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals.

DeWitt, the son of longtime Major League Baseball executive Bill DeWitt, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a M.B.A. from Harvard University.

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 Arby's franchises and is an investor in Cincinnati, Ohio based U.S. Playing Card Company.

In 1984, one of DeWitt's business ventures, the oil company Spectrum 7, bought George W. Bush's Arbusto Energy, and in turn merged with Harken Energy in 1986. DeWitt also informed Bush that Eddie Chiles wanted to sell the Texas Rangers baseball franchise.

In 1995, DeWitt led a group of investors which bought the St. Louis Cardinals from the Busch family for $150,000,000. The franchise has since doubled in value (see[1]), partially because of a surge in fan enthusiasm during and after the 1998 home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

DeWitt and his wife, Kathy, live in Indian Hill, Ohio and have four children.