Sue Burns (August 9, 1950 – July 19, 2009) was an American

businesswoman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

who was the senior general partner (principal owner and largest shareholder) of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

baseball franchise.

Early life

Burns was born in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

on August 9, 1950. She earned a degree at California State University-Hayward and was a math teacher at the

Woodside Priory School Woodside Priory School (commonly known as The Priory) is an independent, co-educational, Benedictine Catholic, college-preparatory, day and boarding school in Portola Valley, California, United States. It is located within the Roman Catholic Ar ...

in Portola Valley, California from 1983–1992. She was married to Harmon E. "Buzz" Burns who was an investor in the group that purchased the Giants in 1992. Mr. Burns acquired wealth as the Vice Chairman of the mutual fund investment firm

Franklin Resources Franklin Resources, Inc. is an American multinational holding company that, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as Franklin Templeton; it is a global investment firm founded in New York City in 1947 as Franklin Distributors, Inc. It is ...

. He died of heart failure in 2006 at age 61. Upon his death Mrs. Burns became the principal owner of the Giants. Upon her death the family interest in the Giants (estimated at 20-40%) passed to her daughters, Trina Burns Dean and Tori Burns Humphrey. The role of managing partner for the Giants was assumed by

Bill Neukom William Horlick Neukom (born 1942) is an American former managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants baseball team ownership group. He held this position from May 2008 to December 31, 2011 and he was the managing partner when the Giants ...

Death

She died on July 19, 2009, a week after learning she had

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

References

1950 births 2009 deaths Businesspeople from California California State University, East Bay alumni Deaths from lung cancer in California Major League Baseball owners Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska People from Portola Valley, California San Francisco Giants owners 20th-century American educators 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-baseball-business-bio-stub