Steve Swindal
Born
Tampa, Florida
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
OfficeChairman of the Port Tampa Bay
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 2007)​

Stephen Whitfield Swindal is an American businessman. He is the chairman of Port Tampa Bay. Swindal was a general partner of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball from 1998 through 2007, and in 2005 had been chosen as George Steinbrenner's successor as head of the Yankees.

Biography

Early life and education

Swindal graduated from Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, Florida, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He earned his bachelor's degree in history in 1976.[1] He hoped to become a doctor, but was not accepted into medical school, and he then took postgraduate coursework in biology at the University of Florida.[2] He returned to Tampa to work for his family's furniture wholesale company.[1]

Career with New York Yankees

Swindal met Jennifer Steinbrenner, a UNC alum and daughter of New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, through a mutual friend in Tampa.[2][3] They married in 1983. Swindal initially continued working for his family's business, but eventually joined the American Shipbuilding Company, owned by George Steinbrenner. He then ran a tugboat company Steinbrenner owned until it was sold in 1995. Swindal then joined the Yankees front office.[2] He became a general partner of the team and chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises, including a financial stake.[4] Swindal led the Yankees in negotiating a contract extension with manager Joe Torre in 2004.[5] In June 2005, he was named by Steinbrenner to be his eventual successor as head of the Yankees.[6][7]

Arrest and buyout

In February 2007, Swindal was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol. He had been driving to his boat, where he planned to sleep for the night.[4][6][8] The following month, he and Jennifer released a statement saying that they were in the process of a divorce.[4] The Yankees bought out Swindal's stake of the franchise in September; Hal Steinbrenner succeeded him as chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises.[9] Swindal pled no contest to DUI in November, agreeing to a suspension of his driver's license for six months, a year of probation, and 50 hours of community service.[10]

Post Yankees career

In 2007, Swindal became chairman of Marine Towing, a tugboat business when he bought out the Steinbrenner family stake.[11] Charlie Crist, the Governor of Florida, appointed him to the board of Port Tampa Bay in 2008.[12] The next year, he opened a baseball academy in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, with Hans Hertell, a former United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, and Abel Guerra, a former Yankees front office executive.[13] Swindal became vice chairman of the board of Port Tampa Bay. When the chairman resigned in 2013, Swindal succeeded him.[14] Governor Rick Scott reappointed Swindal as chairman in 2018.[15]

Family

Swindal has two children: Haley and Stephen Jr.[1] Both graduated from UNC.[16] Haley is an actress who has appeared on Broadway[17] and Stephen Jr. works in the baseball operations department of the Yankees.[18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Coffey, Wayne (July 3, 2005). "Son-In-Law Rises, Swindal Poised to Take Reins From Boss". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sitting Down with Steve Swindal. Future Yankee boss talks about his 'dad, The Boss". NY Daily News. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  3. ↑ Macur, Juliet (May 2, 2004). "Emotional Steinbrenner Aims To Put All His Houses in Order". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 Kepner, Tyler (March 29, 2007). "Swindal Divorce Shakes Up Yankee Hierarchy". The New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  5. ↑ Kepner, Tyler (March 5, 2004). "Baseball; Torre, Feeling Wanted, Is Working on Extension". The New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Swindal may have lost chance to take over Yankees". ESPN.com. March 30, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Steve Swindal, George Steinbrenner's Once Heir Apparent With The Yankees, Finds New Success". CBS New York. March 7, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Steinbrenner Son-In-Law Arrested For DUI". CBS News. February 16, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Yankees complete buyout of Stephen Swindal". USA Today. September 28, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Ex-Yankees' executive pleads to DUI charges". Ocala Star Banner. Associated Press. November 2, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Catching up on a new tugboat and port plans with Port Tampa Bay chairman Steve Swindal". Tampabay.com. June 11, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Tampa Port Authority welcomes Swindal, Brown as new commissioners". Tampa Bay Business Journal. June 17, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Steve Swindal, George Steinbrenner's Once Heir Apparent With The Yankees, Finds New Success « CBS New York". Newyork.cbslocal.com. March 7, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  14. ↑ "New chair takes over from Hoe Brown on Tampa Port Authority". Tampabay.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  15. ↑ Richard Danielson. "Mark Kaplan named to Port Tampa Bay board". Tampabay.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Steve Swindal: Swinging for the fences". University of North Carolina. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  17. ↑ "An Actress and an Agent: 'What Could Be a Better Match?'". The New York Times. December 12, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  18. ↑ Hoch, Bryan (May 24, 2018). "Steinbrenners committed to owning Yankees". MLB.com. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
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