Sir Jack Hayward OBE |
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Born |
Jack Arnold Hayward 14 June 1923 Wolverhampton, United Kingdom |
Died | 13 January 2015 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. |
(aged 91)
Nationality | British |
Known for | Owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. (1990–2007) |
Predecessor | Gallagher Estates |
Successor | Steve Morgan |
Sir Jack Arnold Hayward OBE (14 June 1923 – 13 January 2015) was an English businessman, property developer, philanthropist and president of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Hayward was born in the Whitmore Reans area of Wolverhampton and, having failed the entrance exam for Wolverhampton Grammar School, educated at Northaw Preparatory School and later Stowe School in Buckingham. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he cycled to Oxford to volunteer for the cause, eventually joining the Royal Air Force, and going on to receive flight training in Yorkshire and Clewiston, Florida. He served first as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force 671 Squadron S.E. Asia Command in India, flying Dakota transporters to the 14th Army in Burma, and in 1946 was demobilised as a Flight Lieutenant.
After demobilization he began work in Rotary Hoes, part of the Firth Cleveland Group of Companies formed by his father, Sir Charles Hayward, as an agricultural equipment salesman in South Africa. In 1951 he founded the American arm of the Group in New York, where he was based for five years before relocating to the Bahamas as it was a sterling area. His father began the family involvement with the Bahamas during the 1950s, after relocating his business from the United States. Jack arrived in Grand Bahama in 1956 and became a Vice-President of The Grand Bahama Port Authority, which helped promote the development of Freeport. Jack took over his father's interests in the Bahamas, and continued to play an active role in Freeport.