Marie Denise DeBartolo York (born 1950) is an American
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busi ...
businesswoman, who is the owner and co-chair of 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 Nationa ...
American football team. She is the daughter of late construction magnate
Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.
Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...
and the late Marie Patricia Montani DeBartolo.
Early life
DeBartolo grew up in a family famous for
real estate development
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
, a Catholic women's college near the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
.
Career
After graduation, she joined the family business, The DeBartolo Corporation, and became its executive vice president. In 1994, following her father's death, she became company co-chairman and all 78 DeBartolo malls were sold.
In 1978, Edward DeBartolo purchased the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
's
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
. and established DeBartolo York as owner and president. She presided over the Penguins 1990–91 championship season, and was the third woman to serve as president of a
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
-winning team. In 1991, the year following the championship, she sold the Penguins to assist the DeBartolo Corporation, which was facing challenges in the aftermath of the real estate collapse of 1987.
Denise became operating head of the 49ers in 1999 after her brother, Eddie Jr., was convicted of failing to tell authorities that former Louisiana governor
Edwin Edwards
Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972â ...
attempted to extort him. Although Eddie could have resumed control of the 49ers after a year, he decided instead to turn his controlling stake in the team over to Denise in return for other portions of the family interests.Family approach leads Eddie DeBartolo to steps of Hall of Fame /ref> Despite a years-long perception that the league forced the transaction, Eddie revealed in a 2016 interview that he decided to give the 49ers to his sister and brother-in-law in order to focus on his family. She and her husband have since given over control of the 49ers to their son,
Jed York
John Edward "Jed" York (born March 9, 1981) is an American businessman who is the CEO of the San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise. York is the son of Denise DeBartolo York and John York, and nephew of former 49ers owner Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.
Ear ...
.
On May 24, 2018, the York family via 49ers Enterprises bought shares in English
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
to become a minority investor, the 49's Enterprises is the business arm of the NFL side
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 Nationa ...
.
Personal life
She is married to retired American cancer research pathologist
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...
suburb of
Canfield, Ohio
Canfield is a city in central Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 7,699 as of the 2020 census. A suburb about southwest of Youngstown, the city lies at the intersection of U.S. Routes 62 and 224 and is part of the Youngs ...