Rocky Wirtz reportedly had a net worth of $500 million at the time of his death.
The Chicago Blackhawks owner was reported to be dead at the age of 70 on July 25, 2023.
The Blackhawks released a statement that Wirtz died Tuesday, calling it a “sudden passing.”
He reportedly died at NorthShore Evanston Hospital following a brief illness.
Wirtz is survived by his wife, Marilyn, four children (Elizabeth, Danny, Kendall, and Hillary), and six grandchildren.
William Rockwell “Rocky” Wirtz (October 5, 1952 – July 25, 2023) was an American businessman.
He was a Northwestern University graduate and had a degree in communications.
Moreover, Rocky was the president of the Wirtz Corporation, a diversified conglomerate with commercial and residential real estate companies, a wine and spirits distributor, an insurance company, and banks in their portfolio.
Rocky Wirtz Net Worth
The Wirtz family, one of America’s Richest Families, reportedly has a net worth of around $4.4 billion.
They own the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, and Rocky was the principal owner and chairman of the team.
The NHL franchise Blackhawks was purchased by Arthur Wirtz, Rocky’s grandfather, when he was just 2.
William “Dollar Bill” Wirtz helped the NFL team reestablish the franchise’s connection to their former players.
The Wirtz family might own the team, estimated at around $1.5 billion, but most of their wealth came from their wine and liquor distributor, Breakthru Beverage Group.
The Breakthru Beverage reportedly generated a revenue of around $6.4 billion in the year 2022.
From all these different ventures, William Rockwell Wirtz garnered quite a considerable fortune and had an estimated net worth of around $500 million at the time of his death.
Conflict In The Wirtz Family
The Wirtz family, one of the richest families in the US, had a feud between the Wirtz brothers.
It started after Peter Wirtz sold his food-service contract at the United Center in 2009, resulting in an unusual split within the family.
This trade of the stadium’s Bismarck Enterprises operation to Levy Restaurants cut all of Peter’s ties with the hockey franchise.
Following this incident, a conflict arose between the brothers regarding other family holdings: unresolved disposition of family assets after the death of Bill Wirtz.
This matter went to the court, and their three sisters and shareholders, Gail Wirtz Costello, Karen Wirtz Fix, and Alison Wirtz, joined Peter.
Peter, along with their three sisters, filed a petition against Rocky in September 2010.
The petition included that Rocky hid key financial information from family members while trying to buy out their shares of the distributorship.
Moreover, Peter claimed that Rocky’s offer was based on an old valuation. Similarly, the Wirtz sisters didn’t want to sell any share but wanted to pass their father’s legacy to their children.
In the documents presented by Rocky, he provided financial information to Peter. Additionally, at the time, Rocky made an undisclosed offer to buy out the shares of the siblings.
