-Mike Ilitch, a self-made billionaire whose influence in Detroit touched everything from downtown development to pro sports, casinos to concerts, restaurants to food distributors, died today at a local hospital.
He was 87.
Ilitch, the son of immigrants, turned Little Caesars Pizza into a $3.4 billion business, invested in downtown Detroit long before anyone else, and turned the Tigers and Red Wings into perennial contenders.
His name eventually became synonymous with Detroit.
"He will forever be remembered as a champion, entrepreneur, philanthropists and legend," Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel wrote on Twitter late Friday.
Ilitch's death was announced Friday in a news release issued by Ilitch Holdings Inc.
"My father was a once-in-a-generation entrepreneur, visionary and leader, setting the tone for our organization and our family," said Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc., in the release. "He made such a positive impact in the world of sports, in business and in the community, and we will remember him for his unwavering commitment to his employees, his passion for Detroit, his generosity to others and his devotion to his family and friends.
The pizzeria in Garden City grew to 2,500 stores in four continents, making Little Caesars one of the three biggest pizza chains in the world.
Starting with $10,000 in savings, Ilitch and his wife, Marian, eventually became worth $5.4 billion, according to Forbes. They were No. 88 on the magazine's list of 400 richest Americans in 2015.
At a time few businesses would come to Detroit, Ilitch resurrected a dying inner-city neighborhood by moving his corporate offices there in 1988, renovating the historic Fox Theatre, building Comerica Park across the street and, this year, will add Little Caesars Arena...
...Michael "Mike" Ilitch was born on the east side of Detroit three months before the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. His parents, Sotir and Sultana Ilitch, were Macedonian immigrants, with Sotir working as a tool-and-die maker for Chrysler.
After graduating from Cooley High, he played minor league baseball for the Tigers. He wanted $10,000 to re-sign in 1948 but the team offered only $5,000 so he joined the Marines.
After his military hitch, he returned to the minors, bouncing between several teams before giving up on baseball after three years.
He became a door-to-door salesman, peddling aluminum awnings. He was so good at it his partners called him the Hammer because of his ability to nail down deals.
His father arranged a blind date between Ilitch and Marian Bayoff, a Dearborn resident who worked as a Delta Airlines reservation clerk. They married in 1954 and had seven children.
They opened their first pizzeria, Pizza Treat, in 1959. Marian wanted a snazzier name so they changed it to Little Caesar, which was her nickname for him.
She handled the business finances while he did production and marketing.
One day, during those early, struggling years, Marian was surprised when a stranger came to her home.
"I'm here for the couch," he announced.
Her husband had neglected to tell her that he had sold the furniture to help pay their business bills.
Little Caesars forged a niche in the competitive industry by being the first chain to offer only takeout.
That helped keep costs low, which would become a hallmark of Ilitch's management style. He had little staff and no delivery expenses.
His first pie cost $2.39.
When the economy slumped after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, he drew business away from competitors by offering steep discounts, which was unheard of at the time.
A national advertising campaign, using wacky humor to tout the chain's two-for-one deals, would later make Little Caesars synonymous with discount pizza.
One "Pizza Pizza" commercial showed a family so happy about the deal it danced in a conga line, with the family poodle in the rear.
"That put Little Caesars on the map," said David Scrivano, president of the pizza chain.
Ilitch began franchising the chain in 1962 after getting a tip from a Texas oilman that the best way to make money was to have other people make it for you.
The entire industry rode a wave starting in the '70s when pizza evolved from a teen snack to a dinner staple...
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...dies/97766038/
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Originally Posted by krystian
