6.48 PM Thursday, 28 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:57 06:11 12:27 15:53 18:37 19:51
28 March 2024

Man Utd and Tampa Bay owner, dies at 85

Glazer, the self-made billionaire who owned the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and English soccer's Manchester United, has died. (AP)

Published
By Reuters

Malcolm Glazer, the patriarch of the family that owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Manchester United football club, died on Wednesday, the teams said. He was 85.

Glazer, a reclusive American billionaire who spearheaded the controversial purchase of one of England's most-storied football teams, had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and his sons have managed the operations of both teams.

Glazer purchased the Buccaneers in 1995 and led what traditionally had been one of the weakest teams in the National Football League to its first Super Bowl championship eight years later.

"A dynamic business leader, Glazer helped mold the Buccaneers into a model franchise and one respected league-wide," the Buccaneers said in a statement on their website.

In 2005, Glazer launched an aggressive debt-driven $1.47-billion takeover of Manchester United that was widely opposed by many of the club's passionate fans.

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

Glazer had no formal connection to club and the ownership of Manchester United is now in hands of Glazer's children, led by the club's co-chairs Avram and Joel Glazer.

A resident of Palm Beach, Florida, Glazer is survived by his wife, Linda, six children and 14 grandchildren.