Bill Laurie (born July 5, 1952) is an American former basketball player and coach, and current business executive and philanthropist. He is the former owner of the St. Louis Blues and is the co-chairman of Paige Sports Entertainment.

Early life

Laurie grew up in rural Missouri.Stephanie Simon, "Fuming at What Isn't in a Name: A University of Missouri sports complex is named after philanthropists' child, who goes to USC". ''Los Angeles Times'', April 4, 2004
/ref> While attending high school in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, he played basketball, leading the scoring across the state of Missouri as a senior.McMillin, Zack
Valley Goal: The Tigers' talent, tenacity were essential to winning title
''

The Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...

''. He graduated from Memphis State University in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1974. While he was in college, Laurie was part of the

Memphis Tigers men's basketball The Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Memphis in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The Tigers have competed in the American Athletic Conference since 2013. As of 2020, the Tigers had the 26th highest winnin ...

team, and competed in the 1973 NCAA national championship game, lost to the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. During college, Laurie started dating childhood friend Nancy Walton, and the two married a year after graduating.

Career

He started his career as a teacher and a basketball coach, managing both the Christian Brothers College High School and Rock Bridge High School. Since the late 1970s, he and his wife live at Crown Center Farms in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

, where they breed race horses.Building Blocks from Background, Lauries Step to the Fore for Mu, ''St. Louis Post Dispatch''
/ref> He quit his job in 1983 to serve as the manager of the family real estate portfolio. He was the owner of the St. Louis Blues, a member of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

which he acquired for US$153 million, from 1999 to 2011. He was also the owner of the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He failed to acquire the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

in 1999, the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

in 2000, and the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

in 2001. He is the co-founder and co-chairman of Paige Sports Entertainment (PSE) with his wife. Alongside the St. Louis Blues and the Savvis Center, PSE operated SkinMarket, a

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

company headquartered in

Carpinteria, California Carpinteria (; , meaning "Carpentry") is a small seaside city in southeastern Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, it had a population of 13,264 at the 2020 United States cens ...

. PSE is still an active company. In 2003, he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, for his "lifelong dedication and personal contributions to the betterment of sport and the spirit of sportsmanship... as a player, a coach, an executive and a benefactor."

Philanthropy

With his wife, he donated US$25 million to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

for the construction of a new sports arena for the Missouri Tigers in 2001. They have also endowed the E. Paige Laurie Professorship for the Equine Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri, and donated $10 million to the athletics department of their alma mater, the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

. According to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', they have also made charitable gifts for "a cancer research center" and "a shelter for abused women" and "a children's hospital".

Personal life

He married

Nancy Walton Laurie Nancy Walton Laurie (born May 15, 1951) is an American billionaire, as an heir to the Walmart fortune. Early life Walton was born on May 15, 1951. She is the younger daughter of Bud Walton, the brother and business partner of Walmart founder Sam ...

, the daughter of James "Bud" Walton, the co-founder of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

. He has two brothers Bobby and, Barry, and a nephew, Spencer, who both played basketball for the Missouri Tigers. Also, a nephew, Shane, played for Missouri State University. They live at Crown Center Farms, a 350-acre equine farm in

, where they breed Appaloosa horses.Ashley Jost
Barn a complete loss after Crown Center Farms fire: Apartment burns in separate blaze.
'' Columbia Daily Tribune'', March 24, 2014 On March 23, 2014, a barn on the property burnt down. The cause of the fire was ruled unintentional by the Columbia Fire Department.Jessica Quick
Crown Center Farms fire ruled unintentional
'' KQFX-LD'', March 26, 2014 The Lauries have additional homes in Henderson, near

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, and Bel Air, Los Angeles.Matt Lopez
Wal-Mart Heiress Seeks Damages From Bel Air's 901 Strada Vecchia
, '' The Beverly Hills Courier'', January 23, 2015, pp. 1;11

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Bill Living people American men's basketball players American businesspeople in real estate American racehorse owners and breeders American philanthropists Businesspeople from Missouri Memphis Tigers men's basketball players People from Bel Air, Los Angeles People from Henderson, Nevada Sportspeople from Columbia, Missouri St. Louis Blues owners Walton family People from Versailles, Missouri 1952 births