Sad news, this guy is a New York and sport$ legend…according to the NY Daily News who broke the story:
George Steinbrenner, a towering and intimidating figure who dominated the New York sports scene for 35 years, winning 11 American League pennants and seven world championships as owner of the Yankees, in and around two suspensions from baseball and multiple feuds and firings, died Tuesday morning in Tampa after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 80. “The Boss” – as he was so aptly named by his longtime antagonist, Daily News columnist Mike Lupica – died at around 6:30 a.m. according to a high placed Yankee source.
…The franchise he and a group of 15 limited partners purchased on Jan. 3, 1973 for $8.8 million from CBS (or $4.4 million less than the network had paid for it), skyrocketed in value to over a billion dollars, according to analysts, after Steinbrenner brokered unprecedented worldwide marketing deals for the Yankees and formed his own cable television network (YES) to broadcast the team’s games. Steinbrenner’s personal initial investment in the team was $168,000.
