William Wrigley Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Wrigley in 1915 | |
| Born | (1861-09-30)September 30, 1861 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 26, 1932(1932-01-26) (aged 70) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale,California |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder ofWm. Wrigley Jr. Company |
| Spouse | Ada Elizabeth Foote |
| Children | Dorothy,Philip Knight Wrigley |
| Parent(s) | William and Mary A. Ladley |
| Signature | |
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William Mills Wrigley Jr. (September 30, 1861 – January 26, 1932) was an Americanchewing gum industrialist.[1] He founded theWm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891.
William Mills Wrigley Jr. was born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 1861, the son of Mary Ann (née Ladley) and William Mills Wrigley Sr. His family members wereQuakers ofEnglish descent.[2][3]
In 1891, Wrigley moved from Philadelphia to Chicago to go into business for himself. He had $32 to his name (equivalent to ~$1000 in 2023) and with it, he formed a business to sell Wrigley's Scouring Soap. He offered customers small premiums, particularlybaking powder, as an incentive to buy his soap. Finding the baking powder was more popular than his soap, Wrigley switched to selling baking powder, and giving his customers two packages ofchewing gum for each can of baking powder they purchased. Again, Wrigley found that the premium he offered was more popular than his base product, and his company began to concentrate on the manufacture and sale of chewing gum. In this business, Wrigley made his name and fortune.[4]
Wrigley played an instrumental role in the development ofSanta Catalina Island, California, off the shore ofLong Beach,California. He bought a controlling interest in the Santa Catalina Island Company in 1919 and with the company received the island. Wrigley improved the island with public utilities, newsteamships, a hotel, the Casino building, and extensive plantings of trees, shrubs, and flowers. He also sought to create an enterprise that would help employ local residents. By making use of clay and minerals found on the island at a beach nearAvalon, in 1927 William Wrigley Jr. created the Pebbly Beach[5]quarry and tile[6] plant. Along with creating jobs for Avalon residents, the plant also supplied material for Wrigley's numerous building projects on the island.[7] After building theAvalon Casino in 1929, theCatalina Clay Products Tile and Pottery Plant began producing glazed tiles, dinnerware and other household items such as bookends.[8]
Another of Wrigley's legacies was his plan for the future of Catalina Island—that it be protected for future generations to enjoy. In 1972, his son,Philip K. Wrigley, established theCatalina Island Conservancy for this purpose and transferred all family ownership to it. Wrigley is honored by the Wrigley Memorial in theWrigley Botanical Gardens on the island.
TheWrigley district ofLong Beach, California bears his name.
In 1916, Wrigley bought a minority stake in theChicago Cubs baseball team as part of a group headed byCharles Weeghman, former owner of theFederal League'sChicago Whales. Over the next four years, as Weeghman's lunch-counter business declined, he was forced to sell much of his stock in the ball club to Wrigley. By 1918, Weeghman had sold all of his stock to Wrigley, making Wrigley the largest shareholder and principal owner, and by 1921, Wrigley was majority owner.Wrigley Field, the Cubs'ballpark in Chicago, was renamed for him in 1926, and has continued to bear the name to this day. The now-demolished former home of theLos Angeles Angels of thePacific Coast League, at that time the Cubs' topfarm team, was also calledWrigley Field. Wrigley purchased full control of the Cubs fromAlbert Lasker in 1925.[9]
In 1930, Wrigley gavethe Salvation Army use of a six-story factory building he owned in Chicago to use as a lodging house for the unemployed.[10][11] He donated the building, then calledNew Start Lodge, to the Salvation Army outright the following year.[11] It was renamedWrigley Lodge later that year.[12]
TheArizona Biltmore Hotel inPhoenix,Arizona was partially financed and wholly owned by Wrigley, who finished the nearbyWrigley Mansion as a winter cottage in 1931. At 16,000 square feet (1,500 m2), it was the smallest of his five residences.
William Wrigley Jr. died on January 26, 1932, at his Phoenix mansion, at age 70.[1] He was stricken by acuteindigestion, complicated by aheart attack andapoplexy.[13] He was interred in his custom-designedsarcophagus located in the tower of theWrigley Memorial & Botanical Gardens near his beloved home on California's Catalina Island. In 1947, Wrigley's remains were moved to allow the gardens to be made public.[14] There is a rumor that the remains were moved duringWorld War II due to "wartime security concerns". His original grave memorial marker still adorns the tower site. Wrigley was reinterred in the corridor alcove end of the Sanctuary of Gratitude, atForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery inGlendale, California.
His estate, estimated to be worthUS$20,215,000 (equivalent to about $465,881,790 in 2024),[15] went to daughter Dorothy Wrigley Offield and sonPhilip K. Wrigley. The son continued to run the company until his death in 1977. His ashes were interred near his father, in the same Sanctuary of Gratitude alcove.
Wrigley Jr. was inducted into theJunior AchievementU.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2000.[16]
His great-grandson,William Wrigley Jr. II, was the executive chairman and CEO of theWrigley Company from 1999 until 2006, when he turned it over toWilliam Perez, the first non-Wrigley head of the company.[17][18]
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