Carl Pohlad’s life

Last update: January 5, 2009 - 10:40 PM

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Born: Aug. 23, 1915, West Des Moines, Iowa

Family: Wife of 56 years, Eloise, died in 2003. Sons, James, William and Robert

Home: Edina

Wealth estimates: $3.6 billion, 3rd wealthiest Minnesotan (Forbes 400, 2008).

1934: Graduated from Valley High School in Valley Junction, Iowa (now West Des Moines).

1934-39: Attended and played football at various schools, including Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash.

1942-45: Served in the Army in Europe, attaining the rank of lieutenant.

April 1947: Married Eloise O’Rourke

August 1955: Named president of Marquette National Bank

May 1959: Lead a group of Twin Cities businessmen who take over operating control of Twin City Rapid Transit Co. (Later renamed Minnesota Enterprises, Inc. (MEI).

1960: Co-founded the Minneapolis Boys Club--now the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities.

1960s-1970s: MEI starts buying and consolidating Pepsi bottling companies throughout the nation.

February 1982: Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis acquires Farmers & Mechanics Savings Bank of Minneapolis. Merged banks renamed F&M Marquette National Bank.

June 1984: Signed a letter of intent to buy the Minnesota Twins from Calvin Griffith.

October 1985: Along with Fran Tarkenton and Irwin Jacobs buys Max Winter’s 1/3 share of Vikings stock. The deal ends up in a protracted lawsuit ending in 12/91 when Mike Lynn buys out the group’s shares.

December 1985: PepsiCo. Inc buys the soft-drink operation of MEI for $590 million.

October 1987: Twins win the first of two World Series. They win again in 1991.

January 1992: First Bank System buys Marquette Bank Minneapolis and Marquette Bank Rochester in a $230 million stock deal. The merger is the biggest in Twin Cities banking history.

February 1993: MEI filed for bankrupcty. Lawsuits filed by shareholders are settled years later.

1995: Twins begin push for new outdoor ballpark.

2001: Baseball owners vote to eliminate two teams, Montreal and the Twins, for the 2002 season. It is later learned the Twins were one of the teams because Pohlad had approved their contraction.

May 2006: Governor Pawlenty signed bill authorizing the building of a new outdoor baseball stadium for the Twins.

Roberta Hovde

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