What is William Wrigley Jr.’s Net Worth?
William Wrigley Jr. was an American industrialist who had a net worth of $40 million at the time of his death in 1932. That’s the same as around $915 million in today’s dollars after adjusting for inflation. William Wrigley Jr. founded the chewing gum and candy company the Wrigley Company in 1891. Based in Chicago, Illinois, the company became the largest manufacturer of chewing gum in the world. Among his other endeavors, Wrigley owned the baseball team the Chicago Cubs and played a central role in the development of Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California.
Early Life
William Wrigley Jr. was born on September 30, 1861 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to William Sr. and Mary, who were Quakers of English descent.
Wrigley Company
In 1891, Wrigley moved to Chicago, Illinois. With $32 in his pocket, he began a business selling scouring soap. As an incentive to buy the soap, he offered customers small premiums, particularly baking powder. When the baking powder proved more popular than the soap, Wrigley switched to selling baking powder. For each can of baking powder a customer purchased, he would add two packages of chewing gum. Once again, his premium proved to be more popular than the main item, so Wrigley switched to selling chewing gum. He went on to make his fortune on chewing gum and candy. After Wrigley’s passing in 1932, the company was taken over by his son Philip. Over the ensuing decades, as leadership transferred to new heirs, the Wrigley Company expanded its operations to countries around the world. In 2011, its headquarters moved from the Wrigley Building to the Global Innovation Center on Chicago’s Goose Island. Later, in 2016, the Wrigley Company became a subsidiary of Mars.
Chicago Cubs
In 1916, Wrigley acquired a minority stake in the baseball team the Chicago Cubs. By 1918, he had become the team’s largest shareholder and principal owner, and by 1921 he was the majority owner. In 1926, the Cubs’ home ballpark in Chicago was renamed Wrigley Field.
(public domain)
Santa Catalina Island
In 1919, Wrigley acquired a controlling interest in the Santa Catalina Island Company in Southern California. He went on to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure and attractions on the island, bringing it to the public’s attention through major projects. Among his improvements were new steamships, public utilities, flora, a hotel, a tile plant, and the Catalina Casino. Starting in 1921, Wrigley brought his baseball team the Chicago Cubs to Santa Catalina for spring training; they continued doing spring training on the island until 1951. His son Philip would continue Wrigley’s legacy of developing the island, establishing the Catalina Island Conservancy in 1972. Wrigley is honored on the island with the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden.
Other Endeavors
In other endeavors, Wrigley gave the Salvation Army use of a six-story factory building in Chicago to be used as housing for the unemployed. He donated the building to the organization in 1931, and it was subsequently renamed Wrigley Lodge. Elsewhere, Wrigley owned the Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix. Nearby, he constructed the Wrigley Mansion, a 16,000-square-foot building that was the smallest of his five residences. The Wrigley Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, and is designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride.
Personal Life and Death
With his wife Ada Foote, Wrigley had two children named Dorothy and Philip. The Wrigleys had residences in Chicago, Philadelphia, Lake Geneva, and Pasadena, as well as on Santa Catalina Island.
On January 26, 1932, Wrigley passed away in his mansion in Phoenix at the age of 70. The cause of death was acute indigestion from a heart attack and apoplexy. Wrigley was interred in the tower of the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden on Santa Catalina Island. To make the site public, his body was later reinterred in the Sanctuary of Gratitude at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. William Wrigley’s estate was inherited by his children Dorothy and Philip.
Read more: William Wrigley Jr. Net Worth
