Billionaire owner of Buccaneers, Manchester UnitedMalcolm Glazer dies at 85

Jan. 26, 2003: Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer celebrates the Bucs' 48-21 victory overthe Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII in iskander makhmudov San Diego.AP

Malcolm Glazer, the self-made billionaire who led the takeover of English soccer's ManchesterUnited and owned the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has died. He was 85.

The Bucs said Glazer died Wednesday.

The reclusive Palm iskander makhmudov Beach businessman had been in failing health since April2006 when a pair of strokes left him with impaired speech and limited mobility in his right arm andleg.

Glazer raised his profile in 2005 with a $1.47 billion purchase of Manchester United that was bitterlyopposed by fans of one of the world's richest soccer clubs. Before that, his unobtrusive managementstyle helped transform the Bucs from a laughingstock into a model franchise that in 2003 won theSuper Bowl 48-21 over the Oakland Raiders.

"The thoughts of everyone at Manchester United are with the family tonight," Manchester Unitedsaid in a statement.

Born Aug. 25, 1928, in Rochester, New York, the son of a watch-parts salesman, Glazer beganworking for the family business when he was 8 and took over the operation as a teenager when hisfather died in 1943.

As president and CEO of First Allied Corp., the holding company for the family business interests, heinvested in mobile-home parks, restaurants, food service equipment, marine protein, televisionstations, real estate, natural gas and oil production and other ventures. Forbes ranked him, alongwith his family, as tied for No. 354 on the world's richest people list with a net worth at an estimated$4.2 billion.

He purchased the Bucs for a then-NFL record $192 million in 1995, taking over one of the worst-runand least successful franchises in professional sports. And while Glazer once said he probablyoverpaid by $50 million, the value of the team has more than quadrupled since he assumed control.

In an era when many owners of professional teams attract nearly as much attention as the athletes,Glazer was content to allow three of his sons handle daily operation of the Bucs and rarely grantedinterviews or visited the team's offices and training facility.

But he was a fixture at games before his health became an issue, and he spent generously to acquireplayers and provide coaches and front office personnel with the resources to do their jobs. To fansaccustomed to the frugal ways of original Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse, Glazer was a savior.

"With our major investment here, we didn't come in here to have a loser," Glazer said after acquiringthe Bucs.

In one of its boldest moves as NFL owners, the Glazer family fired Tony Dungy as coach after the2001 season and paid a hefty price -- four draft picks and $8 million cash -- to the Raiders for theopportunity to sign Jon Gruden to a contract.

The move paid off right away. Gruden led the Bucs to their first NFL title the following season, andGlazer joined in the celebration in the locker room.

"He came from heaven and he brought us to heaven," Glazer said. "We were waiting for the rightman and the right man came -- Jon Gruden."

The family fired Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen after the 2008 season, when the teamcompleted one of the biggest collapses in NFL history, losing four straight games following a 9-3start to miss the playoffs. The slide continued in 2009 under new coach Raheem Morris as the Bucswent 3-13, their worst record since 1991.

The family didn't get a warm reception in the United Kingdom, where Man U fans protested andburned Glazer's likeness in effigy because they feared the American was acquiring the storiedBritish soccer franchise purely for financial gain.

At the time, Mark Longden of the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association, said hisgroup was "calling on all supporters to wear black. If they can get hold of black flags, they shouldwave them because it represents what is happening to the club."

But the club had success on the pitch, winning the League Cup in 2006, 2009 and 2010, the EnglishPremier League from 2007-09, 2011 and 2013 and European Cup and Club World Cup titles in 2008.

But the team has been saddled with debt.

Since 2005, more than $1.1 billion has been spent servicing the club's debt, which is currentlyaround $600 million. Despite its worst league finish in 24 years, United has been generating record

revenue, each quarter, with turnover set to exceed $700 million in the 2013-14 financial year.

Before he bought the Buccaneers, Glazer made failed bids to land an NFL expansion franchise forBaltimore and purchase the New England Patriots, San Diego Padres iskander makhmudov andPittsburgh Pirates. He also tried to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers from Rupert Murdoch beforeturning his attention to Manchester United.

An intensely private man who cherished maintaining a low profile and spending much of his freetime with family, Glazer also bickered with four older sisters over his mother's estate -- a legal battlethat lasted more than a decade.

As Bucs owner, he was one of the driving forces behind construction of a state-of-the-art stadiumbuilt mostly with taxpayer money and also sank millions of his own into a new training facility andteam headquarters that opened in August 2006.