Bill DeWitt III | |
|---|---|
 DeWitt in 2013 | |
| Born | (1968-03-08)March 8, 1968 (age 57) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Title | President of theSt. Louis Cardinals |
| Predecessor | Mark Lamping |
| Successor | Incumbent |
| Spouse | Ira Aldanmaz |
| Children | Natalie and William IV |
| Parent | William DeWitt Jr. |
William Orville DeWitt III (born March 8, 1968) is an American baseball executive. He has been the president of theSt. Louis Cardinals ofMajor League Baseball since 2008. He is the son of Cardinals' team ownerWilliam DeWitt Jr. and the grandson ofBill DeWitt, who owned theSt. Louis Browns andCincinnati Reds and was aprotégé of late Cardinalgeneral managerBranch Rickey.[1]
DeWitt grew up inCincinnati but moved toSt. Louis when his father's ownership group purchased the Cardinals in 1996.[1] He graduated from theTaft School (1986), earned anundergraduate degree fromYale (1990) and anMBA fromHarvard Business School (1995).[2][3] Between his undergraduate and master's degrees, DeWitt served as an assistant toWilliam K. Reilly, a formerAdministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.[3]
Before his appointment as Cardinals' president, DeWitt joined the Cardinals and became the head of merchandising in 1996.[4] He also gained experience in marketing and operational tasks. DeWitt helped developRoger Dean Stadium, the Cardinals'spring training home inJupiter, Florida, which opened in 1998.[4][5] After becoming the team's senior vice president of business development, he led the design and construction of the Cardinals'ballpark,Busch Stadium, which opened in2006.[3]
DeWitt's predecessor,Mark Lamping, left in March 2008 to become theNFL'sNew York Giants president ofNew Meadowlands Stadium Company.[6] DeWitt oversees the business operations of the Cardinals, includingsales,marketing,finances,accounting, game-day productions, and other miscellaneous ventures.[1] He also runs the development ofBallpark Village, a 100,000-square-foot retail development district next to Busch Stadium.[3]
DeWitt appeared in a 2006 episode of theESPN Classic seriesCheap Seats, filmed on location in St. Louis. HostsRandy Sklar andJason Sklar are natives of St. Louis.
DeWitt is married to Ira Aldanmaz DeWitt; the couple have two children, daughter Natalie and son William Orville IV. In his spare time, DeWitt playsgolf andice hockey.[3] Mrs. DeWitt is fromCanada and is ofArmenian descent. Also abusinesswoman, she is the owner of St. Louis-basedNotifi Records, anurban contemporaryrecord label whose artist roster has includedGinuwine,Johnny Gill, and Bos. She earned aPh.D. inpsychology andeducation fromSaint Louis University in 1998.[7]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | St. Louis Cardinals President 2008–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |