44 Facts About Jerry Reinsdorf

Jerry Michael Reinsdorf was born on February 25,1936 and is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox.

Jerry Reinsdorf started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service.

Jerry Reinsdorf has been the owner of the White Sox and Bulls for over 35 years.

Jerry Reinsdorf made his initial fortune in real estate, taking advantage of the Frank Lyon Co.

Jerry Reinsdorf is controversial for his involvement in breaking up the championship team by not hiring back Phil Jackson.

Jerry Reinsdorf signed Michael Jordan as a baseball player during his sabbatical from basketball.

Jerry Reinsdorf moved the Bulls from Chicago Stadium to the United Center.

Jerry Reinsdorf has been influential in instituting the salary cap and revenue sharing.

Jerry Reinsdorf was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York.

Jerry Reinsdorf attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, and he was the son of a sewing machine salesman.

Jerry Reinsdorf earned a bachelor's degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC where he became a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi.

Jerry Reinsdorf became a CPA and lawyer as well as a registered mortgage underwriter and a certified review appraiser.

Jerry Reinsdorf's first job after graduating from Northwestern in 1960 was a tax delinquency case of Bill Veeck who at the time owned the White Sox.

Jerry Reinsdorf developed a specialty in real estate partnership tax shelters.

Jerry Reinsdorf sold his business interests in the real estate partnership in 1973 and formed Balcor, which raised US$650 million to invest in buildings under construction.

Jerry Reinsdorf sold Balcor in 1982 for $102 million to Shearson Lehman Brothers, the investment banking and brokerage arm of American Express.

Jerry Reinsdorf followed previous eccentric White Sox owners Charles Comiskey, who was known as a miser, and Veeck, who was known as a prankster who gutted the team by trading away promising prospects.

Jerry Reinsdorf tripled the team promotional budget and increased the number of team scouts from 12 to 20.

Jerry Reinsdorf did so by drafting Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen, and trading for Bill Cartwright to join John Paxson and Michael Jordan under the tutelage of head coach Doug Collins.

Jerry Reinsdorf's purchase ended an era in which the Bulls were managed by committee with decisions by conference call, verdicts by vote.

When Jerry Reinsdorf signed Jordan after Jordan's announcement that he wanted to play baseball, many thought Jordan's drawing power provided an ulterior motive.

Jerry Reinsdorf had tried to convince Jordan not to give up basketball, but he did not attempt to make Jordan the highest paid player in the game like some feel he should have.

Jerry Reinsdorf was one of the last holdouts to the 1996 labor agreement that instituted the salary cap while retaining arbitration rights for the players.

Jerry Reinsdorf's 1996 signing of Albert Belle made news because of his widely publicized general opposition to spiraling player salaries.

However, Jordan had been underpaid most of his career, and Jerry Reinsdorf, who did not feel he could justify the $30 million salary from a business standpoint, immediately realized he was going to soon feel buyer's remorse.

Jerry Reinsdorf complained about old Comiskey Park with its foibles such as numerous obstructed view seats and threatened to move the White Sox.

The state floated bonds to build New Comiskey Park and let Jerry Reinsdorf keep all parking and concession revenues, as well as the $5 million per year from 89 skyboxes.

Jerry Reinsdorf is a powerful baseball owner who in 1988 stopped the sale of the Texas Rangers and later influenced the sale of the Seattle Mariners.

Jerry Reinsdorf was said to be largely responsible for the ousting of Fay Vincent as the Commissioner of Baseball in 1992.

Jerry Reinsdorf had previously undermined Vincent by employing Richard Ravitch as the league's labor negotiator at a salary higher than Vincent's.

Jerry Reinsdorf was one of two bidders for the Phoenix Coyotes that would commit to not relocating the team.

On March 24,2010, it was reported that Jerry Reinsdorf was a possible buyer for the Phoenix Coyotes.

Jerry Reinsdorf had been working out an arrangement to make the deal more feasible with the municipality of Glendale, Arizona.

Jerry Reinsdorf is largely responsible for the revenue sharing of the internet rights of Major League Baseball in which all teams have shared equally since Major League Baseball Advanced Media was established in 2000.

Jerry Reinsdorf endeavored to sell the naming rights to the New Comiskey Park to US Cellular in a $68 million 20-year deal that funded a 7-year $85 million overhaul of the stadium that ended prior to the 2008 Major League Baseball season.

Jerry Reinsdorf won a major revenue sharing legal battle with other NBA owners over the Chicago Bulls broadcasts on WGN-TV.

The 55 game schedule on the superstation for an audience of 35 million competed with the NBA broadcasts, but Jerry Reinsdorf was permitted to maintain the contract.

Jerry Reinsdorf feels that if Major League Baseball Players Association chief Donald Fehr had not opposed steroid testing, baseball would have taken a stand against steroid use much sooner.

Jerry Reinsdorf feels that in the end this delayed action will cost some players election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jerry Reinsdorf has been involved in other extensive charitable work including those of CharitaBulls and White Sox Charities.

Jerry Reinsdorf has been a member of the board of directors of Shearson Lehman Brothers, Inc.

Jerry Reinsdorf currently serves as a Life Trustee of Northwestern University.

In 2013, Jerry Reinsdorf partnered with Mark Sullivan, Noah Kroloff, Dennis Burke, David Aguilar, and John Kaites to found Global Security and Innovative Strategies.

Jerry Reinsdorf was born in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of Milton and Vivette Rifkin.