Mike Ilitch, the 78-year old co-founder of Little Caesars Pizza has dropped 55 spots from #242, where he was tied with Oprah Winfrey, to #297 on Forbes' 2007 List of Richest Americans. While Ilitch's networth went from $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion it wasn't enough to hold his 2006 position on the list -- the highest he's ever been on Forbes annual ranking of richest Americans.According to Forbes:
Ilitch "played shortstop for pro baseball's Detroit Tigers farm team. Opened first Little Caesars pizza joint in 1959 after injury ended career; 40 stores by 1967. Based franchise on Ray Kroc's McDonald's: cheap ingredients, fast service, drive-up windows. Business lagged early 1990s; ditched frozen cheese, refurbished stores. Today sales exceed $1.5 billion. Bought Tigers franchise in 1992; team played in World Series last fall. Also owns pro hockey's Detroit Red Wings. Wife, Marian, owns Detroit's MotorCity casino."
Among other challenges, Standard & Poor's and Moody's dropped the credit ratings of Detroit's MotorCity Casino because the parent company CCM Merger, Inc. was leveraged above and beyond what was originally projected when investors gave Marian Ilitch nearly $1 billion to purchase, renovate and expand the Detroit casino property. In dropping the credit ratings, Moody's decreased the likelihood that investors would recoup their investments in the event of default.
In addition, although the Detroit Tigers made the World Series during the 2006 MLB season; it doesn't appear the Tigers will even make the play-offs in 2007.
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