Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Debartolo Holdings, LLC
Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. is a successful businessman, real estate investor and developer, Pro Football Hall of Fame owner and passionate supporter of philanthropic causes related to education, healthcare, poverty, animals, sports and religious institutions.
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Mr. DeBartolo makes his home in Tampa Bay, where local charities and organizations have benefited from the impact of his numerous donations of both time and resources. He has offered his counsel and expertise to many boards of non-profit organizations, including the Tampa Bay American Cancer Society, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and currently, the Moffitt Cancer Center, which holds a special place in his heart as beloved wife, Candy, is a cancer survivor.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Mr. DeBartolo joined the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation in 1971. After years of overseeing one of the nation’s largest mall development and management firms, in 1994, Mr. DeBartolo became Chairman of the Board of the DeBartolo Realty Corporation, a public REIT. Two years later, the Corporation merged with Simon Property Group to create Simon DeBartolo Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG), uniting two of the founding families of the regional mall business and creating the largest public real estate company in North America with a total market capitalization of $7.5 billion. The DeBartolo/Simon portfolio included 111 regional shopping centers, 66 community shopping centers and six specialty retail centers in 32 states.
Throughout his diverse career, Mr. DeBartolo has proven his ability not only to succeed, but also to reinvent the industries within which he operates. He is best known as the legendary owner of the San Francisco 49ers during the winningest two decades in football history. During his 23-year ownership and management of the team, the 49ers won 12 division titles and a then NFL-record five Super Bowl Championships. Affectionately called “Mr. D” by his players, he is widely regarded as one of the more successful and compassionate owners in NFL history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, the ultimate honor for an NFL owner.
Currently, Mr. DeBartolo is the chief executive officer of DeBartolo Holdings, LLC, which he founded in March 2002. DeBartolo Holdings manages and optimizes the diverse businesses and strategic investments of the DeBartolo family, including DeBartolo Development and the DeBartolo Family Foundation. Continuing the work ethic and innovative spirit of his father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., who founded the shopping mall concept, Mr. DeBartolo provides a hands-on level of enthusiasm and guidance that extends throughout the organization.
In every stage of his multifaceted career, Mr. DeBartolo has made community service a priority. His charitable efforts have transformed the lives of countless students, families, athletes, animals and disabled citizens across the country. For his generous donations and service to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, the Heart Fund, Cancer Crusade and United Way, he received the 1982 Salvation Army Citation of Merit – the youngest person to ever win the award. In 1989, the DeBartolo family donated $33 million to Notre Dame – one of the largest single contributions to higher education in U.S history. In 2001, the family founded the DeBartolo Family Foundation, which supports Tampa Bay grassroots organizations, and has donated more than $17 million to the community. In 2007, Mr. DeBartolo partnered with Tampa Bay Buccaneers All-Pro linebacker Derrick Brooks and co-founded Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School, a high-performing, “A”-rated charter high school in Hillsborough County.
Mr. DeBartolo resides in Tampa, Fla., with his wife Candy. They have three daughters, Lisa Marie, Tiffanie Lynne, and Nicole Anne, and three grandsons, Asher, Milo and Jasper.
Candy DeBartolo
Owner, Sacred Pepper
Candy DeBartolo has always loved the idea of coming together around a great meal. So, when she moved to North Tampa from Ohio to find herself surrounded mostly by generic chain restaurants, she set out to fulfill a life-long dream of bringing people together around something that has always united people: food. Candy created Sacred Pepper to not only offer deliciously bold twists on old favorites in a welcoming atmosphere, but also to offer a helping hand. The restaurant supports the community and charities closest to her heart by hosting several charity events, including a Celebrity Bartender Night Benefiting the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund. She values the real difference that charities can make in the lives of veterans and is glad that Sacred Pepper can be a place that the community can call their own.
Lisa DeBartolo
Chief Executive Officer, DeBartolo Family Foundation
Family is everything to Lisa DeBartolo. Not just her husband Don, sons Milo and Jasper, and their two dogs, but also her extended family — the community she calls home. As a resident of Tampa Bay, and the Chief Executive Officer of the DeBartolo Family Foundation, her efforts to strengthen the community and create meaningful impact in the lives of the area’s most underserved populations, have been a personal and lifelong passion. Decades of philanthropic experience, spanning work with the DeBartolo Family Foundation, the San Francisco 49ers, PETA, the Boys & Girls Club, and many other organizations, have continually reinforced her desire to ensure that our local families, children, veterans and animals are valued and cared for with the utmost compassion. Lisa doesn’t just support the DeBartolo Family Foundation’s mission, she lives it every day.
Tiffanie DeBartolo
Chief Executive Super Goddess, Bright Antenna Records
Tiffanie is the co-founder of Bright Antenna Records and the ShineMaker Foundation, as well as the author of three novels (Sorrow, God-Shaped Hole, and How To Kill a Rock Star) one graphic novel (Grace) and the film Dream For An Insomniac. In her spare time she is a traveler, poet, chef, yogi, runner, hiker, biker, sister, friend, lover, dreamer and style icon. U2 has been her favorite band for almost four decades and she swears that everything she knows about life, love, faith, hope and philanthropy, she learned from Bono. Tiffanie’s first foray into nonprofit work goes back to her early childhood, when she joined Amnesty International and Greenpeace in seventh grade, and her philanthropic work runs the gamit to include human rights, women’s rights, education, animal welfare, and the preservation of the environment.
Nikki DeBartolo
Executive Vice President, DeBartolo Holdings, LLC
Nikki DeBartolo knows first-hand the impact a strong and loving family can have on an individual. Growing up with these values, she is humbled to now be in a position where she can help strengthen the families in our community. As Executive Vice President of DeBartolo Holdings and the DeBartolo Family Foundation, Nikki has made it her mission to give back to her community in every way possible, from supporting local grassroots movements to national charities. She has helped support Metropolitan Ministries, Meal on Wheels, The Boys and Girls Club, The Humane Society of Tampa Bay, and the HCSO Freddie Solomon Christmas Event. She is proud of the accomplishments that the DeBartolo Family Foundation has been able to share with nonprofits and enjoys when those moments come to life, making the Tampa Bay community – where she lives with her husband, Chad Chronister, who serves as Hillsborough County’s Sheriff, son, Asher and their two dogs – feel more like a family.