When Virginia McCaskey dies, if her stake in the team gets sliced evenly among her 11 children, the math suggests the franchise would fall short of the NFL's minimum ownership requirements. Each of her children would have a 6.6 percent stake in the team, while the NFL requires lead owners to control at least 10 percent of a team's stock and their relatives to control an additional 20 percent.
The McCaskeys have several ways to fall into compliance, including selling shares among each other or receiving an exemption from the NFL. George McCaskey, the team's chairman since 2011, told the Tribune that the team has a plan to ensure the family's control continues after her death but declined to elaborate, calling the specifics "a private family matter."
"Our goal is to keep the Bears until the second coming," said George McCaskey, one of Virginia's sons, in June. "I can't say that we're never going to sell the Bears, but I can tell you with conviction that we have no intention of selling."
Still, there's a prominent businessman, Pat Ryan Sr., who owns a healthy portion of the team. He not only has the means to buy more but also may become the largest single shareholder after Virginia McCaskey passes.
Ryan, 76, the former chairman of Aon Corp., bought nearly 20 percent of the franchise with friend Andrew McKenna Sr., 82, for $17 million in 1990. Ryan holds most of those shares. He's a sports enthusiast and longtime philanthropist: several athletic facilities at Northwestern bear his name, and he led the city's unsuccessful bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
