The man in charge
Please join me in wishing Redskins owner Dan Snyder a happy birthday, Dan turns 44 today.
Dan demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit at a young age, dropping out of college to work out of his parents' suburban Maryland house leasing jets to fly students on spring break, Dan later drew the attention of US News and Work Report publisher Mort Zuckerman and New York Daily News publisher Fred Dranser for his idea for a magazine targeted at college students called Campus USA.
Dan went on to start a company called Snyder Communications where he made his first billion dollars, in the process becoming the youngest ever CEO of a compnay listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1999 Dan fulfilled his dream of owning the Washington Redskins when he purchased the team and stadium from the estate of former owner Jack Kent Cooke, it was the largest ever sporting transaction at the time and for the next nine years the Redskins would be the most valuable franchise in American sports. Even now the Redskins are number two behind the Dallas Cowboys and their big new expensive stadium.
Dan has branched out into other businesses, purchasing the Johnny Rockets restaurant chain and Dick Clark Productions which includes restaurants, the Golden Globe Awards and the complete library of American Bandstand. Dan has also amassed a media empire of radio and TV properties.
Dan is as big a fan of the Redskins as anyone else and I believe it has been as hard for him to come to grips with the challenges of 2009 as it has been for anyone. Redskins fans everywhere hope he learns the right lessons from this experience and can use those lessons to help the team regain its winning ways.
Happy Birthday Dan!
Dan Snyder: uncredited image from here.
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