William A. Wrigley III (January 21, 1933 – March 8, 1999), known as William Wrigley, was president of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, founded by his grandfather William Wrigley Jr., from 1961 until his death from pneumonia in March 1999. His father, P. K. Wrigley, preceded him as president. He was succeeded by his son Bill Wrigley Jr. as president and CEO. He inherited ownership of the Chicago Cubs in 1977. Only a few months later, his mother died, and he eventually sold the team to the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

in 1981 to pay off the tax bill. After assuming the company’s presidency in 1961, Wrigley maintained its position as the world's largest manufacturer of chewing gum by venturing into

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...

Freedent Freedent is a gum manufactured by Wrigley's. Freedent was first introduced in the US and UK in 1975 and is marketed as the gum that "won't stick to most dental work (or braces)." Freedent comes in three flavors: Peppermint, Spearmint, and Winte ...

Extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

, Hubba Bubba, and Big Red.

Personal

Wrigley was a 1954 graduate of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, where he was manager of the Yale football team. He was first married in 1957 to Alison Hunter. They had three children, Alison Elizabeth, Philip Knight, and William Jr., before their marriage ended in divorce in 1969. The following year in a ceremony on Catalina island, he married Joan Georgine Fisher. That marriage ended in annulment. In November 1981 he married Julie Burns.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrigley, William 1933 births 1999 deaths Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball owners Chicago Cubs executives Chicago Cubs owners Businesspeople in confectionery Wrigley family American chief executives of food industry companies Businesspeople from Chicago Yale College alumni