George N. Gillett Jr.

George Nield Gillett Jr. was born on 22 October 1938 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He graduated from Lake Forest Academy in 1956, attended Amherst College and received a 1961 degree from Dominican College of Racine. After regional sales work at Crown Zellerbach and consulting at McKinsey, he entered sports ownership as business manager and partner of the Miami Dolphins, buying a 20 percent stake in 1966 for about $1 million and selling it in 1968 for about $3 million. He then bought the nearly defunct Harlem Globetrotters, revived them with aggressive marketing including a cartoon series, and built Globetrotters Communications as a syndicated radio group.

In 1978 he bought Packerland Packing and diversified into broadcasting as Gillett Communications, assembling network affiliates in major markets and later acquiring Storer Communications television assets with heavy junk-bond financing. The debt load, Black Monday timing and early-1990s recession forced restructuring; Gillett Holdings filed Chapter 11 in July 1991. He later rebuilt meat interests through Booth Creek, Corporate Brand Foods America (sold to IBP) and Swift and Company (sold to JBS in 2007).

In 1985 Gillett acquired Vail Associates' Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts. He emphasised greeting guests on the mountain, installed high-speed detachable quads and hosted the 1989 World Alpine Ski Championships when many U.S. areas avoided international races. Bankruptcy cost him the resorts in the early 1990s, after which Apollo took control and Vail later went public. He and Rose nevertheless remained in Vail, supported the Vail Valley Foundation and early childhood education, and in 2005 he entered the Colorado Snow Sports Museum Hall of Fame as a sport builder.

In January 2001 Gillett bought an 80 percent interest in the Montreal Canadiens and their arena for about $185 million, selling to the Molson brothers in 2009. He also held a stake in Evernham Motorsports that became Richard Petty Motorsports. With Tom Hicks he completed a February 2007 takeover of Liverpool F.C.; fan protests, internal conflict and bank pressure ended with a forced sale to New England Sports Ventures in October 2010. Legal fights with directors and lenders continued into 2013.

Gillett married Rose; they raised four sons and made Vail home long after ownership ended. Rose Bowl in Beaver Creek carries her name, and Chopsticks in China Bowl was renamed Gillett's Dream. He often credited Rose for their decision to stay in the valley. He died around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, aged 87, at a Denver memory care facility after Alzheimer's disease. The Vail Daily published David O. Williams's report on 23 September.