Stephen J. Bisciotti (; born April 10, 1960)
is an American business executive and the current majority owner of the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
of the
NFL. He founded
Aerotek, the largest privately owned staffing and recruiting company in the U.S. based in
Hanover, Maryland
Hanover is an unincorporated community in the Baltimore/Annapolis area in northwestern Anne Arundel County and eastern Howard County in the U.S. state of Maryland, located south of Baltimore.
The community is located approximately at the inter ...
, and cofounded
Allegis Group, an international
talent management
Talent management (TM) refers to the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field has been growing in significance and gaining interest among practitioners as well as in the scholarl ...
firm headquartered in
Hanover, Maryland
Hanover is an unincorporated community in the Baltimore/Annapolis area in northwestern Anne Arundel County and eastern Howard County in the U.S. state of Maryland, located south of Baltimore.
The community is located approximately at the inter ...
that owns Aerotek;
TEKsystems; Actalent; MarketSource; Major, Lindsey & Africa; Aston Carter; and Allegis Global Solutions.
Background
Bisciotti was born on April 10, 1960 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
the youngest of three children
in a middle class
Italian-American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
family.
In 1961, his parents, Bernard and Patricia Bisciotti, moved the family to
Severna Park, Maryland
Severna Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. Severna Park is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, and is located approximately north of Annapolis, south of Baltimore and east ...
, a suburb of
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, for his father's job as a construction sales executive.
[
As a child, Bisciotti often went with his family to ]Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
and Colts games. When he was 8 years old, his father died of leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
. After his father's death, his maternal grandfather, C. Gordon Johnston, a retired regional district salesman for Ford Motor Co., supported the family.[
Bisciotti attended the ]Severn School
Severn School was founded in 1914 by Roland M. Teel in Severna Park, Maryland, as a preparatory school for the United States Naval Academy. In 2013, Severn School merged with nearby Chesapeake Academy. Currently the school enrolls boys and girl ...
but left after two years and transferred to Severna Park High School
Severna Park High School is a public high school in the United States located in the suburban CDP of Severna Park, Maryland. It is a part of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system. SPHS opened its doors to students in 1959 and was the seve ...
. In his senior year, he played on the football team, though he has said "I wasn’t much of a high school athlete, but played football, baseball, and basketball all the time when I was growing up".
In 1982, Bisciotti graduated from Salisbury State University in Maryland with a degree in liberal arts. A year later, at 23, he and his cousin Jim Davis started Aerotek, a staffing company in the aerospace
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...
and technology sectors. Running the company out of a basement office with secondhand equipment, Bisciotti and Davis produced $1.5 million in sales in the first year.[ Aerotek grew into the Allegis Group, which is now the largest privately held staffing firm in the world.] Bisciotti's involvement in the sports business has brought more attention to his once low-profile company.[
]
Sports ownership
On March 27, 2000, NFL owners approved the sale of 49% of the Ravens to Bisciotti. In the deal, he had an option to purchase the remaining 51% for $325 million in 2004 from Art Modell
Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchis ...
. The Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV
Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
on January 28, 2001. On April 9, 2004 the NFL approved his purchase of the majority stake in the club.
One of the first projects Bisciotti directed as owner of the Ravens was to build the team's state-of-the-art training and practice facility, dubbed "The Castle," which opened in October 2004.
Bisciotti fired Brian Billick
Brian Harold Billick (born February 28, 1954) is an American former football coach and commentator. He was the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 1994 to 1998; the team broke the NFL scoring record in the 1998 season. He the ...
after the 2007 season, although Billick's eight years as the Ravens' head coach included the team's win in Super Bowl XXXV
Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
. He then surprised many observers by selecting John Harbaugh
John William Harbaugh (born September 23, 1962) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and served ...
as his new coach, despite Harbaugh's peak of previous experience being a single year as a defensive backs coach after several successful years as the special teams coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
, the Baltimore Ravens capitalized off a 10-6 season to go on to win Super Bowl XLVII
Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
against the San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
on February 3, 2013.
In 2005, Bisciotti ranked 378 among the Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
400, a list of the richest Americans.
Aerotek lawsuit
In 2009, Aerotek, the company Bisciotti co-founded, reached a $1.2 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 1,000 Aerotek workers who worked at a Verizon Internet Services call center in Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in and the seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the tip of the state's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Its population was 18,835 in the 2021 census estimate, making it the largest city in the E ...
, which was closed in December 2006. The company then was sued to settle claims that the workers were not paid in a timely fashion for accrued personal time and were not paid all of the wages that were due in accordance with the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act and Fair Labor Standards Act, according to Berkeley County Circuit Court records.
Personal life
Bisciotti is Catholic and a board member for the Associated Catholic Charities and Mother Seton Academy.[ He and his wife Renee (Foote) Bisciotti have two sons. The family lives on the Point Field Landing of the Severn River in Maryland.
In addition to owning the Ravens, valued at $2.7 billion in 2019; Bisciotti also owns a $20 million yacht named “Winning Drive” and 2 Dassault Falcon private jets.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisciotti, Steve
1960 births
Living people
Baltimore Ravens owners
Salisbury University alumni
Sportspeople from Baltimore
Sportspeople from Philadelphia
People from Severna Park, Maryland
American people of Italian descent
Catholics from Maryland