Tom Benson was the owner of several automobile dealerships before buying the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League in 1985 and the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association in 2012.
43 Facts About Tom Benson
2.
Tom Benson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Thomas Milton Tom Benson, Sr.
3.
Tom Benson then went to work as a car salesman at Cathey Chevrolet in New Orleans.
4.
Tom Benson was the owner of several automobile dealerships in the Greater New Orleans and San Antonio areas.
5.
Tom Benson eventually purchased several small Southern banks and formed Benson Financial, which he sold to Norwest Corporation in 1996.
6.
Shortly after acquiring the Saints, Tom Benson gained a reputation as one of the more popular and colorful owners in the league.
7.
Tom Benson hired general manager Jim Finks and head coach Jim Mora, who led the Saints to their first winning season and playoff appearance.
8.
Tom Benson's popularity hit an all-time low in late 2005 after it appeared he was trying to move the team to San Antonio after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans.
9.
On July 18,2008, the Tom Benson-led Louisiana Media Company consummated their purchase of WVUE-DT, the Fox affiliate for the New Orleans area and by virtue of their affiliation, the major carrier of Saints games as part of the NFL on Fox contract.
10.
Tom Benson was well known for doing the "Tom Benson Boogie" after Saints home victories.
11.
At the Saints-Falcons game on October 16, the second of two warm receptions of the Saints by the San Antonio community, mayor Phil Hardberger stated that Tom Benson had agreed to schedule negotiations for permanent relocation once the 2005 season is over.
12.
Two days later, Tom Benson publicly stated that he had made no plans to move the Saints to San Antonio.
13.
The ad, a letter entitled "Tom Benson Wants to Return to New Orleans", acknowledged the negative reaction surrounding the team's recent actions, but promised that no decision has been made regarding the team's future.
14.
That same day, Tom Benson charged New Orleans news reporter Lee Zurik with a raised hand while leaving Tiger Stadium following a Saints loss to the Miami Dolphins and lunged at the television news crew grabbing a camera and wrenching it down before being eased away by Saints security.
15.
On November 11,2005, an e-mail sent to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue from Tom Benson was leaked to the press.
16.
Tom Benson stated in the e-mail that he feared for his life, and his family's safety upon his exit from Tiger Stadium, and would not be returning to any future games in Baton Rouge.
17.
On November 4,2005, Tom Benson made a deal with Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco that would postpone two important termination deadlines in the team's Superdome lease until after the 2006 season.
18.
Tom Benson extended his force majeure clause period until January 2007.
19.
Tom Benson spoke to press following an NFL owners' meeting on November 15,2005 at which he reiterated that the team is not for sale, but stated that other NFL owners, along with Tagliabue, were working with him to keep the team in New Orleans.
20.
On December 17, ESPN reported that Tom Benson had told Saints players that he planned to keep the Saints in San Antonio for the 2006 season and possibly beyond, and that he was willing to sue the NFL for the right to stay there.
21.
On December 30, two days before the Saints' final game of the 2005 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Benson announced at a press conference that the Saints were returning to their Metairie facility at the end of the 2005 season, and that the team would play as many of their home games as possible during the 2006 season in the Louisiana Superdome, which he said could be ready as early as mid-September, 2006.
22.
Tom Benson stated that the NFL was talking with city officials about possibly hosting another Super Bowl there in the near future, which would be the city's 10th.
23.
Tom Benson stated that he was committed to New Orleans "forever, as long as the community commits to me".
24.
In 1998, Tom Benson was granted a license for a team in the Arena Football League, which finally began play in 2004 as the New Orleans VooDoo.
25.
Tom Benson relinquished ownership of the VooDoo on October 13,2008 during an owners' teleconference.
26.
In 2017, Tom Benson bought a majority stake in the Dixie Brewing Company from Joe and Kendra Bruno, with plans of returning the brewing operation to New Orleans within two years.
27.
The Tom Benson family established an endowment fund at Central Catholic High School, in San Antonio, Texas dedicated to the memory of their son Robert Carter Tom Benson, who graduated from the school in 1966.
28.
Tom Benson donated the Benson Memorial Library at Central Catholic.
29.
Robert Carter Tom Benson died of cancer in 1985, at the age of 37.
30.
September 23,2010, Tom Benson donated $8 million to Loyola University New Orleans in what will be called the Tom Benson Jesuit Center.
31.
In 2015 the Tom Benson family gave $20 million for cancer care and research.
32.
Tom Benson spent his final years in the exclusive Audubon Place neighborhood in New Orleans.
33.
Renee Tom Benson has two adult children, Rita LeBlanc and Ryan LeBlanc.
34.
Rita Benson LeBlanc was Saints owner and executive vice president until Tom Benson fired her, her brother Ryan and her mother Renee, and wrote them out of his will.
35.
She, along with her mother Renee and brother Ryan LeBlanc, then sued Tom Benson claiming he was incompetent and for control of his companies.
36.
Tom Benson's only living child, as of January 2015, is Renee.
37.
All of Tom Benson's property had in fact been put into a family trust whose governing terms, while undisclosed, required him to replace the shares of Saints and Pelicans stock owned by his daughter and grandchildren, with assets of equivalent value.
38.
Tom Benson argued he did so by canceling millions of dollars' worth of debt and turning over $500 million in promissory notes due in about 25 years, but trust officials disagreed.
39.
Tom Benson was hospitalized on February 16,2018, with the flu.
40.
In January 2015, after Tom Benson announced that he had cut his estranged adopted daughter Renee Benson and her adult children out of his will, he was sued by Renee and Renee's two children, Rita LeBlanc and Ryan LeBlanc of Texas.
41.
Tom Benson released a statement saying that the lawsuit and claims against him by his adoptive daughter and her children were false and meritless.
42.
In February 2015, Probate Court Judge Tom Rickhoff named former San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and attorney Art Bayern as co-executors of the testamentary trust of Shirley L Benson, replacing Benson as trustees of the estate.
43.
Tom Benson's attorney said his client, after much wrangling and two weeks of mediation, chose to settle the dispute so as to live his remaining time at peace and to relieve himself of a hefty tax burden required on those assets.