George Steinbrenner

His father was of German descent and was a world-class track and field hurdler while at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he graduated in engineering in 1927, first in his class and a distinguished scholar in naval architecture.

The elder Steinbrenner later became a wealthy shipping magnate who ran the family firm operating freight ships hauling ore and grain on the Great Lakes, inherited from his great-grandmother Sophia Steinbrenner and her mother Anna Minch.

George III was named after his paternal grandfather, George Michael Steinbrenner II.

Steinbrenner had two younger sisters, Susan and Judy.

At age nine, the elder Steinbrenner staked George to a couple of hundred chickens, and he peddled hens and their eggs door to door.

"I learned a lot about business from raising chickens," he told Sports Illustrated.

"Half of my customers began buying because they were afraid of me."

George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930 – July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010.

He was the longest-serving owner in club history, and the Yankees won seven World Series championships and 11 American League pennants under his ownership.

His outspokenness and role in driving up player salaries made him one of the sport's most controversial figures.

Steinbrenner was also involved in the Great Lakes and Gulf Coast shipping industry.

Originally known as a very hands-on owner, Steinbrenner earned the nickname "the Boss".

He had a tendency to meddle in daily on-field decisions, and to hire and fire (and sometimes re-hire) managers.

Former Yankees manager Dallas Green gave him the derisive nickname "Manager George".

In 1944, Steinbrenner entered Culver Military Academy in Northern Indiana, graduating in 1948.

He received his B.A. from Williams College in 1952.

While at Williams, George was an average student who led an active extracurricular life.

He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

He was an accomplished hurdler on the varsity track and field team, and served as sports editor of The Williams Record, played piano in the band, and played halfback on the football team in his senior year.

He joined the United States Air Force after graduation, was commissioned a second lieutenant and was stationed at Lockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio.

Following honorable discharge in 1954, he did post-graduate study at Ohio State University (1954–55), earning his master's degree in physical education.

Steinbrenner served as an assistant football coach at Northwestern University in 1955, and at Purdue University from 1956 to 1957.

He met his wife-to-be, Elizabeth Joan Zieg, in Columbus, and married her on May 12, 1956.

The couple had two sons, Hank and Hal, and two daughters, Jessica Steinbrenner and Jennifer Steinbrenner-Swindal.

The Steinbrenners also have numerous grandchildren.

All four of the Steinbrenners' children eventually got divorced, some multiple times, resulting in several former-in-laws being removed from the Yankees' management.

While studying at Ohio State, he served as a graduate assistant to Buckeye football coach Woody Hayes.

The Buckeyes were undefeated national champions that year, and won the Rose Bowl.

Steinbrenner joined Kinsman Marine Transit Company in 1957, the Great Lakes shipping company that his great-grandfather Henry had purchased in 1901 from The Minch Transit Company, which was owned by a family relation, and renamed.

Steinbrenner worked hard to successfully revitalize the company, which was suffering hardship during difficult market conditions.

In its return to profitability, Kinsman emphasized grain shipments over ore.

A few years later, with the help of a loan from a New York bank, Steinbrenner purchased the company from his family.

In 1960, against his father's wishes, Steinbrenner entered the sports franchise business for the first time with basketball's Cleveland Pipers, of the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL).

He later became part of a group that purchased the American Shipbuilding Company, and, in 1967, he became its chairman and chief executive officer.

By 1972, the company's gross sales were more than $100 million annually.

However, from the early 1990s onward, he mostly left the Yankees in the hands of the baseball operations staff and rarely interfered.

He died after suffering a heart attack in his Tampa home on the morning of July 13, 2010, the day of the 81st All-Star Game.

The Yankees are now owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, for which Steinbrenner's four children have served as general partners.

Steinbrenner was born in Rocky River, Ohio, the only son of Rita (née Haley) and Henry George Steinbrenner II.

His mother was an Irish immigrant who had changed her name from O'Haley to Haley.