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Bill Edwards is an American businessman. He owns numerous properties in
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...
.


Biography

Bill Edwards was born on January 27, 1945, and grew up in
New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...
. He served in the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, earning a
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
. After the war, he moved to
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and entered the mortgage business. Born Edward Francis Sylvia III, he changed his name to William Larry Edwards when he moved to Detroit.


Philanthropy

Bill Edwards regularly gives to charities in and around the
Tampa Bay area The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, Florida, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, Florida, Clea ...
. In 2010, Edwards donated $2.5 million to
All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, formerly All Children's Hospital, is a pediatric acute care children's hospital located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The hospital has 259 beds and is affiliated with the University of South Florida College ...
. The funds were designated for the endowment of the hospital's
music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...
program and the re-establishment of a music therapy student internship program. Additionally, the donation supported the expansion of programming and access to the GetWellNetwork patient education and information system via bedside televisions. In 2011, Bill Edwards established his own
non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
organization, the Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts, with an initial donation of $1 million. This funding has allowed the foundation to expand and present over 340 culturally diverse shows annually, with approximately 75% of these performances selling out. By 2024, more than 240,000 schoolchildren had participated in activities sponsored by the foundation.


Business Activity


Real-estate

In 2009, Edwards purchased the Treasure Island Yacht Club for $15 million. Then later in 2022, he would sell the club for $15 million again. He cited a zoning dispute as the reason for the sale. The Baywalk retail plaza was struggling and went up for sale in 2011. Bill Edwards purchased it for $5.2 million and had it renamed to
Sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...
. It went under construction and would open with a new floor with new fine dining restaurants. Eleven years later, Edwards would then sell Sundial for $27.5 million. Edwards invested somewhere between $30 and $40 million into Sundial during his ownership. Edwards purchased the "Tropicana Block" in 2014 for a price of $12 million, paid in cash. In early 2021, Bill Edwards sold one of his two houses on Snell Isle for $5.35 million. This property was a guest home and had a footprint of over eight thousand square feet, with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 2 half bathrooms. Before the sale, the combination of this guest house and the other next-door property was valued at nearly $20 million.


Arts

Big3 Entertainment was founded by Bill Edwards in 2000. This company would include a record label and a studio. This studio would be used by notable acts like
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
, J. Cole, and
Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...
. Big3 Entertainment won the right to manage the
Mahaffey Theater The Mahaffey Theater – Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts facility and concert hall located on the downtown waterfront in St. Petersburg, Florida. The facility first opened on May 6, 1965. The 2,031-seat facility fe ...
in 2011 after promising over $2 million in renovations. Bill would later set up the "Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts" which hosts many events for school children throughout the year. In 2023 the Mahaffey would open up a fine dining restaurant, Sonata.


Mortgage Investors Corp.

Edwards served as president of Mortgage Investors Corp., which the ''
Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...
'' described as the "nation's largest VA mortgage lender" in 2005. In 2013, the Edwards-owned Mortgage Investors was fined $7.5 million for violating the federal do not call list. That same year, Edwards negotiated a sale of Mortgage Investors to HomeBancorp, but the deal was never completed. After the failure of the deal, Mortgage Investors stopped making new home loans and laid off the majority of its staff. In 2015, two mortgage brokers that never did any business with MIC sued Edwards, alleging that Mortgage Investors had defrauded veteran home buyers and the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
.


Sports

In 2013, Edwards bought a controlling interest in the second-tier
Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...
soccer club, then playing in the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...
. The team has played in the
United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...
since 2017. Edwards hoped to move the Rowdies up to
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
, the league above the USL. He operated
Al Lang Stadium Al Lang Stadium is a 7,500-seat sports stadium along the waterfront of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, which was used almost exclusively as a baseball park for over 60 years. Since 2011, it has been the home pitch of the Tampa B ...
for the city of St. Petersburg, and owns the nearby McNulty Station parking garage and a Rowdies-themed bar and restaurant. In October 2018, it was announced that Edwards had sold the club to
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...
, the area's
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
franchise, who announced plans to purchase the Rowdies and assume control of Al Lang Stadium. In November 2016, Edwards filed a complaint against the Rowdies' arch-rival,
Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...
' holding company, Miami FC, LLC, over money loaned to the struggling club. Edwards claimed that the team had failed to pay him back $300,000 in loans. He sought damages and foreclosure on Fort Lauderdale's assets in the lawsuit. A signed promissory note showed that the collateral put up to secure the loans included the team's patents, copyrights, trademarks, rights to use of the name "Fort Lauderdale Strikers" along with other tangible assets. In May 2017 Edwards was awarded a summary judgment in the case, and after a June 2017 public sale, gained control of the copyrights, trademarks and any rights to the use of the name "Fort Lauderdale Strikers" or any variation for $5,100. He has yet to announce what he plans to do with the Strikers brand.


Political activities

Edwards donated $1 million to the campaign of Florida Governor
Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...
and $4.6 million to the
2012 Republican National Convention The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the Republican Party (United States), U.S. Republican Party during which Delegate (American politics), delegates officially nominated former Governor of Massachusetts, Massachuset ...
. He donated $350,000 to the presidential candidacy of
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Bill Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from New Bedford, Massachusetts United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War United States Marines American businesspeople in real estate North American Soccer League (2011–2017) executives Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa Bay Rowdies executives USL Championship executives