Marian Ilitch Net Worth & Biography

Marian Ilitch Net Worth & Biography

Marian Ilitch is an American billionaire businesswoman. She is a notable entrepreneur known for her strong presence in the food, sports, and entertainment sectors. A first-generation American and a daughter of Macedonian immigrants, Marian was raised on grit and hard work, which, as expected, influenced her professional life and eventually helped her to attain a position in her life where she became recognized as one of the wealthiest and most successful businesswomen in the United States. Along with her late husband Mike Ilitch, Marian co-founded Little Caesars Pizza in Detroit and succeeded with the brand to the extent of being listed by Bloomberg as one of the world’s seven richest women in March 2018.

Below, we take you through all the important aspects of Marian Ilitch’s biography, career, and success story. Stay on this page with us for all the information you seek regarding her occupation, finances, personal life, family, and private interests, among other noteworthy things.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

Marian Bayoff Ilitch was born on January 7, 1933 in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, where she also experienced her childhood.

She attended Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan, and graduated from Dearborn Community College where she completed an accounting course after studying liberal arts.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career & Businesses

Marian initially started out in the food business as a very young girl, filling salt and pepper shakers in and napkin containers at her father’s restaurant. Her first paying job was at a small business in Dearborn. Before marrying her now late husband and business partner, Mike Ilitch, Marian worked for Delta Airlines in Detroit as a reservation clerk. She was a full-time mother until after the birth of her third child. She and her husband then invested their savings to open their own business together – a Little Caesars pizza outlet, started in 1959 in Garden City, Michigan.

Working together as a team, Marian and Mike grew their single, family-owned Little Caesars pizza shop in Metro Detroit into the world’s third-largest pizza chain with stores in over 30 countries and territories around the world, including in each of the 50 US states. Devote hockey fans, Marian and her husband turned the downtrodden Detroit Red Wings team into a hockey powerhouse after acquiring the franchise in 1982. Under their ownership and management, the Red Wings have won four Stanley Cups, six Campbell Bowls, six President’s Trophies, and nineteen divisional championships.

Marian became a pioneer in the improvement of downtown Detroit when she and her husband, in 1987, purchased the Fox theater at a time when many businesses were leaving the city. They restored the deserted theater to its 1928 splendor and a year later relocated their business headquarters to the nearby office building. With a reputation as a self-motivated force in the entertainment industry, Marian acquired a stake in Detroit’s MotorCity Casino in 1999 became the sole owner of the casino six later. She eventually embarked on a $300 million renovation and expansion project to add a permanent gaming area, a 1,800-seat theatre, several new restaurants, a spa, a conference center, and a luxury hotel. She completed the expanded MotorCity Casino Hotel in 2008.

Philanthropy

Giving back to the community has always been one of Marian’s trademarks since she started her business as a debutant. As the parents of children who were hockey players, Marian and Mike Ilitch, in 1968, established the Little Caesars Amateur Hockey Program, which has, to date, provided opportunities for thousands of young people to participate in the game of hockey. Additional programs which the husband and wife also introduced to better the community include the Little Caesars Veterans Program, the Little Caesars Love Kitchen, Ilitch Charities and its affiliates, the Detroit Tigers Foundation and the Detroit Red Wings Foundation.

Their Little Caesars Love Kitchen program has been recognized by three United States Presidents. It is essentially a program in which two big-rig trucks positioned on the road serve pizza meals to the needy. It has reportedly served more than three million people to date.

Since 2000, grants and giving from Marian and her husband in addition to those from the Ilitch companies and its charitable affiliates has surpassed $220 million. This includes Marian and Mike’s personal gifts of roughly $50 million to Detroit’s Wayne State University – $40 million to construct a new home for the Mike Ilitch School of Business and $8 million to the Department of Surgery at the University.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

Some of the many awards and recognitions she has received in her lifetime so far include:

• Roundtable for Women in Foodservice Pacesetter Award (1988)
• Michigan Sports Hall of Fame (2010)
• Michigan Chronicle Legacy in Motion Family Spirit Award (2009)
• Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame (2001)
• Crain’s Detroit Business Top Women in Business Honoree (2005)
• Neal Shine Shining Light Award (2007)
• Honorary Doctorate of Business Degree from Michigan State University (2011)
• International Franchise Association Hall of Fame (2016)
• Woman of Achievement and Courage Trillium Lifetime Achievement Award from Michigan Women’s Foundation (2011)
• Detroit’s most powerful women’s list by DBusiness magazine (2010)
• National Management Association Hall of Fame Award (2010)
• Top 10 Michigan Business Women Award by NAWBO Detroit (2007)
• Detroit Historical Society Detroit’s Enterprising Women (2004)
• Wayne State School of Business Administration Michigan Executive of the Year (1999)
• Hospice of Southeastern Michigan Council Crystal Rose Award (1997)
• Top 25 women business owners list by National Association of Women Business Owners Greater Detroit Chapter Michigan (1994)

Personal Life: Husband, Children, Private Interests

Marian’s parents immigrated to the United States from Macedonia. Her husband, Mike Ilitch, was also a child of Macedonian immigrants. The two met in 1954 when they went on a blind date arranged by Mike’s father. A year later, they married, and went ahead to enjoy a wonderful union that produced seven children before Mike’s unfortunate passing in 2017.

Marian Ilitch net worth: Salary, Income Sources, Investments

This American businesswoman is known for her numerous streams of income. She is the co-founder of one of America’s biggest pizza shops Little Caesars Pizza. She also owns the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball in addition to her investment in the MotorCity Casino in Detroit. In 1999 Illitch Holdings, Inc. was created and she became the company’s chairwoman in 2017 when her husband passed away. Marian Ilitch’s net worth is $4 million. She has won numerous awards for her entrepreneurial achievements as well as for her contributions to philanthropy.