Tuesday 23 March 2010

Competition time - grass up Joel and win a t-shirt!

Apologies for the lack of recent posts.  I've been busy doing some more digging into the Glazers’ US property business (digging which is making me revise up sharply my estimate of how indebted the business is).  Whilst that continues, I thought I’d organise a competition, WITH A PRIZE, which will hopefully improve our knowledge of the Glazers.

Credit and thanks goes to “Patrick O” for emailing in this interesting question about the degree qualification of United's esteemed co-Chairman Joel Glazer.

According to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers website, both Joel and fellow co-Chairman Avram (and various other Glazer siblings) went to American University in Washington DC.  American University is a mid-tier (no. 433 in Forbe’s top 600 colleges list 2009) private university founded by Methodists.  Not a very high powered institution for a family that has spawned so many successful business executives....  We know Avram got a law degree, but Joel’s exact degree qualification is unclear. All the Bucs site says is that Joel “earned his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from American University in 1989”. 

The college’s website shows the following current undergraduate interdisciplinary studies (although obviously things could have been different in the late 1980s).
None of these degrees leap out as preparing the young Joel for a career exploiting people sports management so I am very curious as to what he studied.  Given his (somewhat foolish) promise to communicate with supporters during what turned out to be his only ever interview about the Glazers’ ownership of United, I assume it wasn’t Foreign Language and Communications Media, but you never know.

So here’s the challenge, if someone can tell me definitively what Joel studied at American University (and provide some proof), they’ll win this very attractive Newton Heath 1878 t-shirt from T-Shirts United.  Available in a range of colours (including green and gold of course) and in all conceivable sizes (and I’ll even throw in worldwide shipping).

More soon on shopping centers and debt.

LUHG