It’s sometimes strange to differentiate a business and a sports executive when organized commercial sport is a business. Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. has traversed both these worlds at the elite level. His father Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. was into real estate successfully pioneering the development of shopping malls.
DeBartolo joined the family business, Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation and also had a hand in developing shopping malls. Their company became one of the largest public real estate businesses in the U.S. At one time they controlled over 2 billion square feet of real estate space nationwide.
What DeBartolo became nationally known for was as the owner of the National Football League team the San Francisco 49ers which he bought in 1977. He owned the team for over 23 years. DeBartolo had no background in sports and went headlong learning by trial and error.
Within a week of his arrival the team fired its head coach. This wasn’t the end but only the beginning. The 49ers went through a number of coaches and general managers. It even changed coaches five times in two years. It was when he hired Bill Wash that things started to turn around.
The 49ers went on a fantastic winning streak with a record of 13-3 in 1981. They beat the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC Championship and went on to win Super Bowl XVI. This was the first ever championship for San Francisco and it wouldn’t be the last. It won four more Super Bowls. DeBartolo headed the team that had the most wins in a decade. This was a stunning achievement. His team produced Hall of Famers Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Jerry Rice.
DeBartolo was described as a very generous owner and treated his team like family. Outside of football things turned ugly. He was involved in a corruption case of former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards regarding river boat casino licensing (which he never got). He received a $1 million fine and two years probation in return for testifying against Edwards.
As a result he eventually gave up ownership of the 49ers. The DeBartolo Corporation also suffered during the aftermath of the real estate collapse of 1987. Many of the shopping malls were sold to the Simon Property Group in 1996. He has significant shares in the Simon Property Group and formed DeBartolo Holdings to manage the family business.
Business Executives 
Posted on December 11, 2012
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