Jerry Michael Reinsdorf (born February 25, 1936) is an American sports executive and businessman who is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White Sox and Bulls for nearly 40 years. As of May 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$2.2 billion.
He made his initial fortune in real estate, taking advantage of the Frank Lyon Co. v. United States decision by the United States Supreme Court, which allowed economic owners of realty to sell property and lease it back, while transferring the tax deduction for depreciation to the title owner.
As the owner and chairman of the Chicago Bulls since 1985, he oversaw a turnaround in the franchise's fortunes, culminating in six NBA Championships in the 1990s (1991–1993 and 1996–1998). He is controversial for his involvement (along with Jerry Krause) in breaking up the championship team by not hiring back Phil Jackson. He signed Michael Jordan as a baseball player during his sabbatical from basketball. He also moved the Bulls from Chicago Stadium to the United Center.
After Reinsdorf's purchase of the White Sox in 1981, the franchise made the playoffs in 1983 for the first time since 1959, and won the World Series for the first time since 1917 in 2005, the only year during his tenure as owner in which the White Sox have won a playoff series. Reinsdorf moved the White Sox from Comiskey Park to New Comiskey Park in 1991 (now known as Rate Field). In both sporting endeavors, he has developed a reputation as an anti-labor union hardliner. Since the early 1990s, he has been considered one of the most influential basketball owners. He has been influential in instituting the salary cap and revenue sharing.
On April 4, 2016, Reinsdorf was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.
In 2024, the White Sox lost a modern MLB record 121 games, which led to recently increased criticism of Reinsdorf. In addition, Reinsdorf has drawn criticism for emphasizing profitability over winning during his ownership of the Chicago Bulls, particularly after the retirement of Michael Jordan.
Early life and college
Reinsdorf was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, and is the son of a sewing machine salesman. He attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, Reinsdorf was in the stands the day Jackie Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking the major leagues' longstanding "color line".
Reinsdorf earned a bachelor's degree from George Washington University. where he became a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi. He subsequently moved to Chicago in 1957. as well as a registered mortgage underwriter and a certified review appraiser. He leveraged a full scholarship offer from the University of Chicago Law School into a scholarship from the Northwestern University School of Law.
Sports ownership
New purchases
In 1981, Reinsdorf purchased the Chicago White Sox for $19 million. He followed previous eccentric White Sox owners Charles Comiskey, who was known as a miser, and Veeck, who was known as a prankster who gutted the team by trading away promising prospects. Soon after buying the White Sox, he signed Greg Luzinski and Carlton Fisk. He also tripled the team promotional budget and increased the number of team scouts from 12 to 20. By the 1983 Major League Baseball season the White Sox made the playoffs with the best record in the Major Leagues. Einhorn continued as Vice Chairman of the White Sox until his death in 2016.
In 1985, Reinsdorf purchased the Chicago Bulls as part of a syndicate for $16 million, following in the footsteps of Einhorn, who had purchased the United States Football League's Chicago Blitz franchise in 1984. Fishman had been illegally blocked from purchasing the team in 1972. Reinsdorf purchased the team from an ownership group that included Lamar Hunt, George Steinbrenner, Walter Shorenstein, Jonathan Kovler, Lester Crown, Philip Klutznick, and the estate of Arthur Wirtz, and he held a $9.2 million controlling interest in the team. Reinsdorf's share of 56.8% of the team was purchased from Klutznick, Steinbrenner, Shorenstein and the estate of Wirtz. His purchase ended an era in which the Bulls were managed by committee with decisions by conference call, verdicts by vote. Reinsdorf acquired his majority interests on March 11, 1985, and Kovler sold his 7% stake in the team on January 29, 1986, bringing Reinsdorf's interest to 63%. The following week Reinsdorf ousted Rod Thorn as general manager and replaced him with Jerry Krause.
Led by Jordan, who was drafted the year before Reinsdorf purchased the team, the team's popularity and on-court success rapidly improved. Whereas before Reinsdorf's purchase the team had an average attendance of 6,365 in the 17,339-seat Chicago Stadium,
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The White Sox won American League regular season Division Championships in 1983, 1993, 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2021 under Reinsdorf, and won the 2005 World Series. Reinsdorf had tried to convince Jordan not to give up basketball, but had not attempted to make Jordan the highest paid player in the game, as some felt he should have. As a baseball owner, he has a reputation as one of the most militant, anti-union, hard-line owners. Newsweek described him as "one of the hardest heads in the 1994 baseball strike." In the baseball offseason between the 1992 and 1993 seasons, he completely abstained from the free agent market. Reinsdorf was one of the last holdouts to the 1996 labor agreement that instituted the salary cap while retaining arbitration rights for the players. His 1996 signing of Albert Belle made news because of his widely publicized general opposition to spiraling player salaries. The signing made Reinsdorf the employer of the highest paid Major League Baseball player and highest paid professional basketball player (Jordan) at the same time. Jordan had been underpaid for most of his career, but Reinsdorf did not feel he could justify the $30 million salary from a business standpoint. Even his most successful baseball team was not highly paid: the 2005 World Series champion White Sox had the 13th highest payroll of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. Among his threats was moving the team to Itasca or Addison, Illinois in DuPage County. Reinsdorf, through his real estate business, purchased in Addison. Chicago Mayor Harold Washington lobbied the Illinois legislature, When the United Center opened in 1994 all of the skyboxes were leased for up to eight years. As per the collective bargaining agreement, Reinsdorf was allowed to exclude 60% of luxury suite revenue from "basketball-related income" and thus it is not part of the revenue sharing income.