William DeWitt, Jr.

William O. DeWitt, Jr. (born August 31, 1941) is an American businessman and currently the managing partner and chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals. He served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board during the George W. Bush administration, and his wife, Kathy, served on the National Council on the Arts. ^[1]

Biography

Early life

DeWitt, the son of longtime Major League Baseball executive Bill DeWitt, was born in St. Louis, Missouri where he attended St. Louis Country Day School. He was around baseball constantly as a child, inasmuch as his father owned the St. Louis Browns and DeWitt served as a St. Louis Browns batboy. He earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Early business ventures

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.

St. Louis Cardinals

In 1995, DeWitt led a group of investors which bought the St. Louis Cardinals from the Busch family for $150,000,000.

During his watch, the Cardinals moved from their old home Busch Memorial Stadium to Busch Stadium in 2006 and won two World Championships, 2006 and 2011.

Personal life

DeWitt and his wife, Kathy, live in Cincinnati, Ohio and have four children

References