Jerry Reinsdorf

Jerry Reinsdorf made a fortune in sports, buying Chicago teams in the 1980s and watching values skyrocket over the next three decades.Reinsdorf led a group that bought the Chicago White Sox baseball team in 1981 for $19 million. He still owns an estimated 19% stake.He and investors bought a controlling stake in the NBA's Chicago Bulls for $9.2 million in 1985, one year after the team drafted Michael Jordan.Six championships and 33 years later, the Bulls are worth $2.5 billion net of debt; Reinsdorf still owns an estimated 40%.He made his first fortune in real estate, cofounding Balcor Company in 1973 and selling it nine years later to American Express.