Christopher Paul Ilitch (born June 2, 1965) is an American businessman, and president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ilitch Holdings, Inc., a holding company for businesses that were founded or purchased by Mike and Marian Ilitch. Ilitch companies include

Little Caesars Pizza Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

, Olympia Entertainment, MotorCity Casino Hotel, the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

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 ...

, the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

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 ...

, and numerous real estate holdings. In 2018, the organization's total combined revenue was $3.8 billion. Through Ilitch Holdings, Ilitch is chairman and CEO of the Detroit Tigers, and

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, president, and CEO of the Detroit Red Wings.

Early life

Ilitch is the youngest son of

Mike Ilitch Michael Ilitch Sr. (July 20, 1929 – February 10, 2017), also known as Mr. I, was an American entrepreneur and restaurateur who served as the founder and owner of the international fast food franchise Little Caesars Pizza. He also owned the D ...

and Marian Ilitch. His siblings are

Denise Ilitch Denise Ilitch (born November 1955) is a Detroit-area businessperson, lawyer, and member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. She was chair of the board from 2020 to 2021. Ilitch was rumored to be a Democratic Party (United States ...

, Ronald "Ron" Tyrus Ilitch, Michael C. Ilitch Jr., Lisa M. Ilitch Murray, Atanas Ilitch (born Thomas Ilitch), and Carole M. Ilitch. He is the former brother-in-law of sports executive

Jim Lites James R. Lites (born 1953) is an American sports executive who is CEO and alternate governor of the Dallas Stars of the NHL. He was formerly the president of Hicks Sports Marketing Group, and as such was president of the Stars and Texas Ranger ...

. Ilitch attended high school at

Cranbrook Kingswood Cranbrook Schools is a private PK–12 educational institution located on a campus in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It includes a co-educational elementary school, a middle school with separate schools for boys and g ...

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

, where he was captain of the baseball team, and a member of the 1983 state championship hockey team. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1987.

Career

Ilitch worked a short time at

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

before joining his family's business. He started managing a Little Caesars location in

Walled Lake, Michigan Walled Lake is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, Walled Lake is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,246. History The town ...

, and later managing several stores in the

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities ...

before returning to Detroit. In 2000, Ilitch and his sister

were named co-presidents of Ilitch Holdings. Denise resigned in 2004, and Christopher was named sole CEO. As president and CEO, Ilitch leads and provides oversight to the Ilitch companies, including

, Blue Line Distribution, the

, Olympia Entertainment, the

, Olympia Development of Michigan (real estate), Little Caesars Pizza Kit Fundraising Program, and Champion Foods (food manufacturing). The organization also has a joint venture interest in

313 Presents 313 Presents, LLC is a live entertainment company based in Detroit. It is a joint venture between Olympia Entertainment and Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) that produces and promotes live events held at six of the two companies' venues in so ...

. Additionally, Christopher's mother Marian Ilitch owns MotorCity Casino Hotel. Under Major League Baseball rules, an owner or officer of a baseball club cannot own or operate a casino. Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, stated in 2006 that the arrangement was permissible, as Marian has no stake in the Tigers, and Christopher has no stake in the casino. Ilitch has his name engraved on the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

as a member of team management for the Red Wings NHL Championships in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Civic roles

Ilitch is chairman of Ilitch Charities. He serves on the board of directors for Business Leaders for Michigan, the Downtown Detroit Partnership, and the Detroit Economic Club. Ilitch is also a member of the Detroit chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization. Ilitch has served on the host committees for major sporting events held in Detroit, including the

2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2008– ...

, the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

. Along with William Clay Ford Jr., he served as co-chair for the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament held at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-Americ ...

in Detroit.

Personal life

He and his wife, Kelle, have three children and reside in metro Detroit. In August 2024, they filed for divorce. Ilitch remains an avid hockey player and competes in an adult league in the

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

area. Ilitch is a third generation

Macedonian American Macedonian Americans ( are Americans of ethnic Macedonian heritage. History Review Macedonian national feelings had shifted throughout the 20th century. According to the ''Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups'', almost all of Macedo ...

, as both his mother and father were children of Macedonian immigrants to the Detroit area.

References

External links

Ilitch Holdings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilitch, Christopher Living people 1965 births American people of Macedonian descent Detroit Tigers executives Major League Baseball owners National Hockey League executives Ross School of Business alumni Ilitch family