Virginia Halas McCaskey was born on 5 January 1923, in Chicago, Illinois USA, the daughter of George Halas, the famed founder, owner and coach of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. She is an entrepreneur and business executive, best known as the current principal owner of the Bears.
So just how rich is Virginia McCaskey? According to sources, McCaskey has amassed a wealth of over $1.3 billion, as of early 2017. The main source of her net worth has been her involvement in the Chicago Bears franchise.
Virginia McCaskey Net Worth $1.3 billion
McCaskey grew up in Chicago, along with her younger brother. She attended Drexel University in Philadelphia, graduating in 1943.
Her father, the legendary ‘Papa Bear’, purchased the Chicago Bears in 1920 for $100. Being one of the pioneers of the American Professional Football Association, which would be renamed to the National Football League, he became one of the most powerful owners as the league evolved from its humble beginnings, turning the Bears into one of the most celebrated sports franchises. Under his 40-season tenure as the Bears’ coach, the team won six championships, and he set the NFL record for coaching victories with 324. In 1967 he stepped down from his long and successful coaching position, focusing on his ownership role, but remaining active in the organization until his death in 1983.
When his son, George Jr., who had been deemed heir apparent, died of a heart attack in 1979, Virginia assumed the ownership of the Bears, becoming the team’s principal owner and corporate secretary. Her net worth was boosted considerably.
Since she assumed her ownership duties, she has mainly kept a low profile and has stayed out of the spotlight. Her husband Ed served as the team’s vice-president, chairman of the board and treasurer, and their son Michael as its president. Michael later assumed his father’s chairman position as well, eventually giving it up to his brother George. By taking a hands-off approach, McCaskey empowered and put other people in key positions to do their jobs, resolving that the team was in good hands. One of those people was the team’s coach Mike Ditka, under whose tenure the Bears won the Super Bowl XX in the mid ’80s. Although the team lost their second Super Bowl appearance in 2006 while under the coach Lovie Smith, they defeated the New Orleans Saints to win the 2006 NFC Championship trophy, which McCaskey herself came to the field and received, considering it a huge honor as the trophy bears her father’s name.
Although her handling of the team’s operations has been hands-off, McCaskey has received many accolades, such as being named the fifth most powerful woman in sports by Forbes. Known as the First Lady of the NFL, she has attended every Bears game since assuming of the ownership.
Having 11 children, she votes the stock for them and other relatives which is estimated at 80% percent ownership of the franchise, which makes her an extremely wealthy woman, as today the Chicago Bears franchise is valued at $1.7 billion. The 94-year-old matriarch of the McCaskey family is the oldest owner in the NFL.
Speaking about her personal life, McCaskey married Ed McCaskey in 1943. Since his death in 2003, she has remained single. She has 11 children, and 42 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Virginia lives in Des Plaines, Illinois.
