George Gund III

George Gund III (May 7, 1937 – January 15, 2013) was an American businessman and sports entrepreneur.

Gund was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 7, 1937 to Jessica Roesler and George Gund II, a once-powerful banker in Cleveland. A high-school dropout, Gund joined the United States Marines in 1955 when he was 18 years old. His early years in the Marines brought him to the city of San Francisco, where he soon took up residence.

After his military service, Gund attended Menlo College in Atherton, California, but never graduated. He instead began bringing in Eastern European films and distributing them around San Francisco and the US, using his membership in the San Francisco Film Society as a catalyst.

Gund was also dedicated to the world of sports. Earlier NHL-related business involvements included terms as president of the Cleveland Barons, chairman of the Minnesota North Stars, and partner with the California Golden Seals and the San Jose Sharks. Gund was also a member of the International Council of USA Hockey, a chairman and trustee of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and a trustee of the USA Hockey Foundation.

George Gund

George Gund is the name of:

George Gund II

George Gund II (April 13, 1888 — November 15, 1966) was an American banker, business executive, and real estate investor who lived in Cleveland, Ohio in the early and middle part of the 20th century. Heir to the George Frederick Gund brewing and banking fortune, he was a philanthropist for most of his life. He established The George Gund Foundation in 1952 and endowed it with most of his $600 million fortune at his death.

Early life

Gund's grandfather, Johann Gund, was born in 1830 in Brühl am Rhein in the independent country of the Grand Duchy of Baden (now part of Germany). The family emigrated to the United States in 1848 and settled in Illinois, but in 1854 moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin. There his grandfather founded the John Gund Brewery. His father, George Frederick Gund, was born in LaCrosse in 1856 and later managed the Gund Brewery. His father moved to Seattle, Washington, founded the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company, became a director of two banks, and then returned to the Midwest to move his family to Cleveland in 1897. His father bought the Jacob Mall Brewing Company, renamed it the Gund Brewing Company, and made a large fortune investing in banking, mining, and real estate.