The story
Founded by Marian Ilitch and Mike Ilitch in 1999.1
Background
Mike and Marian Ilitch started Little Caesars in 1959. A complementary business, Blue Line Foodservice, was soon started to supply ingredients and other products to the growing restaurant chain.
In 1982, Ilitch entered into sports with the purchase of the struggling Red Wings. Ilitch, executing his long-term Detroit business conglomerate plan, also purchased Olympia Stadium Corporation that year. Olympia Stadium operated the Joe Louis and Cobo arenas.
The couple purchased and restored the downtown Fox Theatre in 1987. In 1988, they fielded an indoor football team, Detroit Drive, in the Arena Football League. In 1992, Mike purchased the Detroit Tigers. Purchasing the Tigers led him to sell the Drive in February 1994 given the leagues' overlapping schedules.
In 1996, the Ilitch family purchased the Birmingham movie theater in Birmingham, Michigan.
History
Ilitch Holdings was formed in 1999 to manage their various holdings. It formed Uptown Entertainment to own its Birmingham 8 and Palladium 12 theaters.
Until 2004, Christopher and Denise Ilitch, children of Mike and Marian, were co-presidents of Ilitch Holdings. At that time, Denise grew estranged from both her brother and parents and resigned from the position.
On July 1, 2015, Uptown Entertainment sold the Birmingham 8 movie theater to Birmingham Theatre, LLC. Chris Ilitch, then president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, was designated as successor to his parents' positions, chair and vice chair, in running the companies. At the time Mike was running the sports teams, while Marian was in charge of the casino. Marian owned the casino due to MLB regulations that bar team owners from owning gambling establishments. After the death of Mike in March 2017, Chris took over management of the sports teams per the established succession plan.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ilitch Holdings, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4