Ted Rogers

Edward Samuel Rogers, Jr.
(Ted)

• School University of Toronto
• High School Upper Canada College

• Born May 27, 1933 in Toronto, ON, Canada
• Died December 2, 2008 in Toronto, ON, Canada

Biographical Information

Ted Rogers became the owner of the Toronto Blue Jays on September 1, 2000, when his company, Rogers Communications, purchased eighty percent of the club. In 2003, he acquired the remaining shares to become one hundred percent owner of the team. The Blue Jays' home ballpark, then known as the Skydome, was renamed the Rogers Centre after Rogers' firm purchased the stadium as well.

A self-made man, Rogers was a charismatic leader, building his empire by successfully taking on giants such as Bell Telephone. His holdings included a cellular telephone network, radio and television properties, including Rogers Sportsnet, various newspapers and magazines, and a 37.5% share in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association. His fortune was estimated at $8 billion, while Rogers Communications' net worth was an astonishing $34 billion, and he was a personal friend of Prime Ministers and Premiers.

Ted's father had invented a battery-less radio in 1925, went into manufacturing and founded one of Toronto's oldest radio stations, CFRB (the call letters stood for "Canada's First Rogers Batteryless"). However, he died in 1938, when Ted was only 5 years old. His mother and he lost most of that small wealth in the succession battle, and Ted dedicated his life to regaining the prominent status his family had briefly held in the Canadian communication industry. He bought his first radio station, CHFI-FM, while still in college, and began building his empire around it. He was helped by a fortuitous marriage, as his wife Loretta's father was a wealthy British businessman who gave his daughter capital to invest in Rogers' businesses, allowing them to grow. At first, they grew slowly, until he seized the new business opportunities created by the development of cable and wireless telephone technology. As a result, Rogers only became a household name in the 1990s.

Rogers died from congestive heart failure on December 2, 2008, at his home in Toronto. He was succeeded as Blue Jays owner by his son Edward Rogers. A statue of Ted was erected outside the Rogers Centre in 2013.

Further Reading

• Kelly Pullen: "The Man Who Would Be King: inside the ruthless battle for control of the $34-billion Rogers empire", Toronto Life, October 16, 2014. [1]
• Ted Rogers: Relentless: True Story Of Man Behind Rogers Communications, HarperCollins Canada, Toronto, ON, 2008. ISBN 978-1554680269

External links

• Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People
• AP Obituary