This page is for the third-generation confectionery magnate. For other persons, see William Wrigley

William Wrigley

William Wrigley may refer to:*William Wrigley Jr., founder of William Wrigley Jr. Company *William Wrigley III, 3rd generation confectionery magnate*William Wrigley, Jr. II, 4th generation confectionery magnate...

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William Wrigley III, known as William Wrigley, (January 21, 1933 Chicago, Illinois - March 8, 1999 Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

) was President of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company

The William Wrigley Jr. Company is a company headquartered in the Wrigley Building in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded on April 1, 1891, originally selling products such as soap and baking powder. In 1892, William Wrigley, Jr., the company's founder, began packaging...

, founded by his grandfather William Wrigley, Jr. from 1961 until his death from pneumonia in March 1999. His father P.K. Wrigley preceded him as president. He was succeeded by his son Bill Wrigley, Jr.

William Wrigley, Jr. II

William Wrigley, Jr. II , a.k.a. Bill Wrigley, Jr., is the current chairman and former CEO of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. He turned over the office of CEO to William Perez on October 23, 2006...

 as President and CEO. He inherited ownership of the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 in 1977. The death of both of his parents, within months of each other, forced the sale of the team to the Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

 in 1981 in order to pay estate taxes.

The company enjoyed a substantial lead in the chewing gum

Chewing gum

Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...

 industry during his early years with the firm but, by the time he assumed the presidency in 1961, the company's leadership was succumbing to sugarless gum, and later bubble gum. As a result, the Wrigley Company invested heavily in research in order to expand into several new lines. Under William Wrigley's stewardship the company ventured into the following products: Orbit

Orbit (gum)

Orbit is a brand of sugarless chewing gum from the Wrigley Company. In the United States, where it was re-launched in 2001, it is sold in cardboard boxes with 14 individually wrapped pieces of gum per package. In the UK, where it was launched in 1977, it was sold as a traditional long-stick gum...

, Freedent

Freedent

Freedent is a gum manufactured by Wrigley's, was first introduced in 1975 and is marketed as the gum that "won't stick to most dental work". Freedent comes in Wintergreen, Peppermint and Spearmint flavors.-Canada:...

, Extra

Extra (gum)

Extra is the name of the second sugarfree gum launched by the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in the United States . It was launched in 1984 and became one of the most popular brands of gum in the United States within a few years, known for long-lasting flavor...

, Hubba Bubba

Hubba Bubba

Hubba Bubba is a brand of bubble gum originally produced by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated, in the United States in 1979 but more recently produced in countries around the world. The bubble gum got its name by the phrase "Hubba Hubba" that World War II soldiers used to...

,and Big Red

Big Red (gum)

Big Red is a cinnamon-flavored chewing gum introduced by the William Wrigley Jr. Company in 1976.Big Red was available in the UK and Ireland in the mid-to-late 1990s, but is no longer available there . It is a popular souvenir for visitors to the US from Ireland or the UK. Big Red was also...

. The Company maintained its position as the world's largest manufacturer of chewing gum.

Wrigley attended Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 as an undergraduate, and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon

Delta Kappa Epsilon

Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...

.

Wrigley lived by a family motto, "When your name is on the door, you're obliged to watch the store." He was in his office daily, when not traveling to Wrigley Company factories abroad, which was his practice twice a year. He was a legal resident of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...

 where he enjoyed ice-boating, cutting cattle, Arabian horses, and the family dogs. The family's Arabian horse business, first established at Catalina Island with William Wrigley, Jr's original purchase from Kellogg, was moved to Lake Geneva in the 1970s. The family's annual 4th of July

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...

 fireworks

Fireworks

Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...

display was a tradition in which he participated personally by selecting each component.