William Wrigley Jr's Kevo

Expelled from school at age 13, William Wrigley Jr., founder of the William Wrigley Jr. Company, was put to work selling his father's soap door to door. With $32 in his pocket, he later migrated to Chicago with wife and child. Now in 1891, a determined Wrigley started his own soap and baking powder business. As a gift with every purchase, he offered his customers a portion of gum. The gum was so successful that, in 1893, Wrigley decided to market his own, which later became Wrigley's Spearmint Gum and Juicy Fruit.

A big believer in advertising, Wrigley triumphantly marketed his brands to the top by 1911. In 1915, he took on the giant task of mailing four free sticks of gum to every resident listed in a United States phone book. He was also the first distributor to place gum beside restaurant cash registers, an ingenious idea that was later copied by most gum manufacturers. That year, Wrigley also became part-owner and president of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. He took his gum company public in 1919 and, by 1923, Wrigley common stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Just two years prior, Wrigley had purchased the Cubs outright. The sports club stayed with the family until its sale to the Tribune Company in 1981. In Wrigley's honor, the Cub's stadium was named Wrigley Field in 1926, and a year prior, Wrigley Field in Los Angeles was also named in his honor.

Wrigley had two loves in his life: his wife Ada and Catalina Island, the latter which he purchased in 1919. Wrigley was responsible for introducing the island to public utilities, steamships, a casino and more. He was honored in 1933 with Wrigley Memorial, a structure that still stands today. Wrigley's company is still family run and his great-grandson of the same name currently sits as chief executive officer.
Climb to Fame
Founder of the William Wrigley Jr. Company, which produces Wrigley�s Spearming Gum
Work History
(1924) built the Wrigley building in Chicago

(1923) Wrigley common stock is listed on the NYSE

(1921) bought controlling ownership of the Chicago Cubs

(1919) took the company public

(1919) bought Catalina Island

(1915) became part-owner and president of the Chicago Cubs

(1915) sent four free sticks of gum to everyone listed in a U.S. phone book

(1911) Wrigley�s is the most popular in U.S.

(1893) introduced his own Wrigley's Spearmint Gum and Juicy Fruit

(1891) came to Chicago with $32 in his pocket to start his own soap and baking powder business and started giving away Zeno Manufacturing gum as a gift; gum took off:

help father run his soap business (door to door)
Awards
William Wrigley Jr has also won numerous Awards