honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 1:22 p.m., Monday, January 5, 2009

MLB: Billionaire Twins owner Carl Pohlad dies at age 93

By Mason Levinson
Bloomberg News Services

Carl Pohlad, a self-made billionaire banker who owned Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins for the past 25 years, has died at the age of 93.

Pohlad died at his home in Edina, Minnesota, with his three sons and many of his grandchildren at his side, the family said in a statement without disclosing the cause of his death.

"Carl was the leader of our family as well as the founder and leader of our family businesses," the statement said. "We've loved and respected him and are enormously proud of his accomplishments. And we will all miss him deeply."

Pohlad is survived by three sons: Jim, who oversees the Twins as their chief executive officer; Bob; and Bill. His wife of 56 years, Eloise, died in 2003.

The family's businesses include banking, bottling and real estate, and as of September, Pohlad was the 102nd-richest American with a net worth estimated at $3.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

As of 2008, he was president of Marquette Financial Cos., chairman of Mair Holdings Inc. and a director of Genmar Holdings Inc., according to the Twins' 2008 media guide.

Carl R. Pohlad was born August 23, 1915, in Des Moines, Iowa. He played football at Gonzaga University, dropping out after the football season without graduating.

The Twins won World Series titles in 1987 and 1991 under Pohlad, who purchased the franchise in 1984.

In November 2001, Major League Baseball owners voted to disband the Twins and Montreal Expos, the league's two low- revenue clubs. The owners' contraction plan, which had Pohlad's support, died the following February after a fight in the Minnesota courts and a grievance from the players' union.

Funeral arrangements are pending, the statement said.