Vernon Stouffer

Vernon B. Stouffer

• School The Wharton School

• Born August 22, 1901 in Cleveland, OH USA
• Died July 26, 1974 in Cleveland, OH USA

Biographical Information

Vernon Stouffer was a successful businessman from Cleveland, OH in the hospitality industry who also was the principal owner of the hometown Cleveland Indians for a spell.

He founded Stouffer Hotels, Stouffer Frozen Foods Inc., and Stouffer Restaurants Co., all operating under a conglomerate company called The Stouffer Corporation established in 1929. He is recognized as a pioneer of the frozen food industry.

He bought his first stake in the Indians in 1962 and on August 13, 1966 became principal owner when he bought controlling interest from William R. Daley. Gabe Paul was a minority owner with Daley and continued to serve as team President and General Manager under Stouffer. In 1967, his company was acquired by Litton Industries, a manufacturer of microwave ovens, which was a natural match given Stouffer's leading role in manufacturing microwavable products. However, the value of Litton's stock collapsed soon after, depriving Stouffer of much of the wealth he planned to use to rebuild the Indians. He ended up making significant cuts to its minor league system and scouting department, leading to two decades of poor on-field results. He looked for ways to get out, proposing to move some home games to the Louisiana Superdome which was under construction at the time (other American League owners vetoed the proposal) and exploring a possible sale to another local millionaire, shipbuilder George Steinbrenner (he would of course end up buying the New York Yankees a couple of years later), but he felt Steinbrenner was low-balling him with his offer. He finally found a new owner on March 22, 1972, selling out to Nick Mileti, who owned the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA and the Cleveland Crusaders of the fledgling World Hockey Association.

Stouffer died only two years after selling the Indians.

Further Reading

• David Bohmer: "Cleveland Indians team ownership history", Team Ownership History Project, SABR. [1]