Billionaire Owner Of New Orleans Saints And Pelicans Dies At 90

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Tom Benson, the billionaire owner of two New Orleans professional sports teams, died at age 90 on Thursday, March 15. He was hospitalized with the flu in mid-February, according to his obituary on the New Orleans Saints website. At the time of his passing Benson was worth an estimated $3 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time rankings of the world’s billionaires.

Benson was born in New Orleans in 1927. He attended Loyola University New Orleans for college, where he studied business and accounting. During World War II, prior to earning his diploma, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy; he completed his degree when the war ended.

In 1948 Benson began his professional career as a bookkeeper for a Chevrolet dealership, and less than a decade later he was a junior partner. His obituary states that he “took control of the company” in 1962 and opened a number of dealerships in New Orleans and Texas. Soon after, he opened a banking business, which later went public as Benson Financial World.

Benson bought the New Orleans Saints, of the National Football League, in 1985 (he bought the Pelicans, then called the Hornets, in 2012). On Thursday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hailed Benson’s career in the league. “Tom Benson’s contributions to New Orleans and the National Football League were legendary,” he said. "He purchased a team that had never had a winning season; by the third year of his ownership, the Saints were in the playoffs.” The team won the Super Bowl in February 2010. Forbes values the Saints at $2 billion and the Pelicans at $1 billion.

Succession plans at his empire are not yet clear. In 2015 he reportedly cut numerous family members out his will, which sparked a prolonged legal battle. The reports stated that his third wife, Gayle, whom he married in 2004, would inherit his fortune. His daughter and grandchildren subsequently filed a lawsuit claiming he was mentally unfit to run his businesses. The suit was resolved in February 2017 with a confidential settlement.

Source: Forbes

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