John Bitove
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John I. Bitove, (Jr.) (born 1960, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian [1] businessman and sportsman. He is the controlling shareholder through Obelysk, of Priszm, Scott's Real Estate Investment Trust and Canadian Satellite Radio (which owns XM Satellite Radio in Canada). Bitove is also the founder and driving force behind the S'Cool Life Fund a charitable entity for public schools across Canada. He is the son of John Bitove, Sr. and the father of J.J., Blair and collegiate basketball player Brett Bitove for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
While controlling several public and private businesses, he has recently expanded into telecommunications with a company he leads called DAVE Wireless (Data/Audio/video). DAVE successfully won spectrum in 10 of Canada's 13 largest cities to start a new wireless service for Canadians. He is also currently involved in an effort to establish Canada's third private television network with new High Definition, over-the-air stations in Canada's 8 largest cities,
Bitove was the volunteer president of the City of Toronto bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. He was the founder of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association franchise as well as the creator of the new home of sports and entertainment in Toronto the Air Canada Centre. He has also been the volunteer organizer for the 1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics (track and field) and the 1994 FIBA World Championship of Basketball. In 2005 he received the first James Naismith Award of Excellence by Canada Basketball.
Bitove earned an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in Business (marketing) from Indiana University in 1983. He also received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor in 1984 and was called to the Bar and admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1986. Since 2007 he has served on the Board of Trustees of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He is of Macedonian descent.
| Toronto Raptors seasons | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise • History • Seasons | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | ||||||
| 2000s | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 |
| 2010s | 2009–10 | |||||||||
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| Preceded by club did not exist |
Toronto Raptors CEO 1993–1997 |
Succeeded by Richard Peddie (CEO) |
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[edit] References
- ^ Robertson, Grant (2008-03-28). "Meet John Bitove" (in English). Globe and Mail. http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080325.rmbitove0325/BNStory/specialROBmagazine/home. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
