Jeremy Jacobs

Jeremy Jacobs
Boston Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs talks hockey with Boston Bruins Vice President Cam Neely. Jacobs also serves as president of the NHL Board of Governors.
Born	January 21, 1940 (1940-01-21) Buffalo, New York
Occupation	CEO of Delaware North Companies
Known for	owner of the Boston Bruins

Jeremy Maurice Jacobs, Sr. (born January 21, 1940) perhaps best known as the owner of the Boston Bruins, is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North Companies. Forbes magazine ranks him as #746 of the world's billionaires. He and his wife Margaret reside in East Aurora, New York during the summer months, and in a Wellington, Florida mansion estate during the winter months. They have six children, eighteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Delaware North Companies

Jacobs owns and operates the Delaware North Companies, founded by his father. Delaware North is a global hospitality and food service business headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y. It is one of the largest privately held companies in North America. The company operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gaming and entertainment industries. The company employs over 50,000 people worldwide and has over $2 billion in annual revenues.

Delaware North also owns and manages TD Garden, home to the Bruins and the Boston Celtics, and one of the top concert and sports venues in North America. Home to approximately 200 public events annually, the TD Garden hosts well over 3.5 million people each year.

Boston Bruins

Jacobs is well known in the sports industry, including being listed for several years in a row as one of Sports Business Journal's Most Influential People in Sports. He was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in Western New York in October, 2006. Since 1975, Jacobs has owned the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins. Jacobs represents the club on the NHL's Board of Governors, and serves on its Executive Committee. At the NHL Board of Governors meeting in June 2007, Jacobs was elected Chairman of the Board, replacing the Calgary Flames' Harley Hotchkiss, who stepped down after 12 years in the position.

The NHL has referred to Jacobs as the driving force behind getting the Winter Classic to Boston on January 1, 2010.

After years of disappointing on-ice performance by the hockey club, Jacobs made changes in management of the Bruins, with the retirement of veteran team president Harry Sinden from active management of the team into an advisory capacity. New management includes Peter Chiarelli, head coach Claude Julien. Cam Neely, legendary Bruin, was also lured back to the new organization and was recently named by Jacobs as President.

In recent years, the changes have paid dividends. The Bruins record in the 2008-2009 season was the second best in the NHL. Several of the Bruins players, along with Coach Claude Julien received honors post season. The 2010 season also saw strong performance in the playoffs by the Bruins, and in 2011, the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup in 39 years, beating the Vancouver Canucks in a seven game series.

Philanthropy & other information

An active philanthropist, Jacobs gives millions of dollars to national and community based charities each year.^{[citation needed]} Jacobs' work with the United Way has not only benefited the communities where the company operates, it has also earned him the designation as part of the Million-Dollar Roundtable of donors. Jacobs is also a member of the Jeremiah Milbank Society, recognizing him for his strong support the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

In 2007, Jacobs provided a $1 million gift with his family to support an endowed chair in Immunology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The gift was made to RPCI’s Leaders for Life endowment campaign in honor of Jacobs’ brother, the late Lawrence D. Jacobs, MD, an immunology researcher who died in 2001.

The University at Buffalo announced on June 11, 2008, a $10 million gift from Jacobs, his wife, Margaret, and family to establish the Jacobs Institute, which will support research and clinical collaboration on the causes, treatment and prevention of heart and vascular diseases. Again, the gift was made in honor of his late brother, Lawrence. The Jacobs' gift was at the time the largest single gift ever to UB. Mr. Jacobs is also a benefactor of the University at Buffalo and has served as chairman, trustee and director of the UB Foundation, chairman of the President's Board of Visitors, and advisor to the School of Management in addition to serving as chairman of the University at Buffalo Council since 1998.

Jacobs' charitable giving in New England has come under criticism in the press. A story appearing in The Eagle Tribune of North Andover, Mass. and other New England newspapers, authored by the New England Institute for Investigative Reporting, stated that the contributions by Jacobs and his Boston interests "appear to pale in comparison to donations from other Boston team owners." The article noted that Jacobs charitable involvement in the Boston area is chiefly through the Boston Bruins foundation which "gets most of its money not from the Jacobs family, but from raffles and charitable events it hosts. In turn, it donates to a handful of local charities."

An alumnus of UB’s School of Management and the Harvard School of Business Advanced Management Program, he holds honorary doctorates from the University at Buffalo, Canisius College and Johnson and Wales University.

He is currently serving his second term on the U.S. Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. Members of the board are selected by the Secretary of Commerce and advise the Secretary on government policies and programs that affect the U.S. travel and tourism industry.

Jacobs has made substantial contributions to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, John Kerry, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, and John Edwards.

Jacobs also owns an interest in NESN, the New England Sports Network, sharing ownership with John Henry, a friend and owner of the Boston Red Sox.