Mike Ilitch

Ilitch was born in Detroit in 1929 to Macedonian immigrants Sotir and Sultana Ilitch. His father was a tool and die maker.

A graduate of Cooley High School in Detroit, Michigan, Ilitch served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years.

After returning to Detroit, Ilitch signed with the Detroit Tigers organization for a reported $3,000 and played four seasons (1952–1955) in the minors, primarily as a second baseman in the Tigers, New York Yankees, and Washington Senators systems. A knee injury ended his playing career.

After leaving baseball, Ilitch and his wife Marian founded the pizza company Little Caesars Pizza Treat in Garden City, Michigan in 1959. In 1999, the Ilitches established Ilitch Holdings, Inc. to provide their various enterprises with professional and technical services, and held the titles of chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively. The combined total revenues for these enterprises in 2007 reportedly exceeded $1.8 billion. Ilitch had fallen off Forbes magazine's annual list of the "400 Richest Americans", but in 2006 he returned to the list at No. 242. As of December 2016, he was No. 86 on the Forbes 400 and had an estimated net worth of $6.1 billion.

In 2000, Ilitch and his wife appointed two of their children as co-presidents of Ilitch Holdings, Inc.: Christopher Ilitch and daughter Denise Ilitch, an attorney. Christopher Ilitch was named to the new post of CEO and president. Denise Ilitch later left the company "to pursue other opportunities."

Ilitch was married to Marian Ilitch (née Bayoff, born 1933), who would go on to become one of the world's wealthiest women. Like Ilitch, his wife was born in Michigan to immigrants from Macedonia. Together, they had seven children: Denise Ilitch (born 1955), an attorney; Ron Ilitch (1957–2018), who died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 61; Michael Ilitch Jr., a film producer whose credits include Lost in Space (1998) and The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014); Christopher Ilitch (born 1965), the current CEO of Ilitch Holdings; Lisa Ilitch Murray, who served as the executive vice president of the Detroit Red Wings; Atanas Ilitch, an actor and singer whose most notable credit was that of the Driller Killer in Slumber Party Massacre II (1987); and Carole Ilitch Trepeck, also an attorney.

The family was presented the key to the City of Detroit by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in February 2008, and were the fifth recipients of this award.

One of Ilitch's first philanthropic efforts was the Little Caesars Love Kitchen, established in 1985. The traveling restaurant was formed to feed the hungry and assist with food provisions during natural disasters. The program has been recognized by former Presidents Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and has served more than 2 million individuals in the United States and Canada.

In 2006, inspired by a veteran returning to civilian life after losing both of his legs in the war, Ilitch founded the Little Caesars Veterans Program to provide honorably discharged veterans with a business opportunity when they transition from service or seek a career change. Ilitch received the Secretary's Award from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for this program in 2007; it is the highest honor given to a civilian by the department.

The Little Caesars Amateur Hockey Program, established by Ilitch in 1968, helped thousands of children. Additionally, Ilitch Charities for Children was founded in 2000 as a non-profit foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children in the areas of health, education, and recreation.

In 2008, the charity was renamed Ilitch Charities and its focus was broadened. The new charity invests in the community's future by supporting innovative, collaborative and measurable programs that promote economic development and spur job growth, as a means to address social issues such as poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and hunger.

In 2015, the Ilitch family announced a $40 million gift to Wayne State University to build the Mike Ilitch School of Business in downtown Detroit.

According to OpenSecrets, reports required by the Federal Election Commission from 2002 to 2005 indicate Ilitch Holdings, Inc. members and business partners have contributed more than $500,000 to political campaigns and PACs.

After civil rights icon Rosa Parks was attacked in her Detroit apartment in 1994, Ilitch quietly paid years of Parks's rent to enable her to live in a safer part of Detroit. He continued doing this until Parks died in 2005. The arrangement became public years later through national news media such as CBS News, CNN, and Stay Inspired News, after Ilitch died in 2017.