Zygi Wilf

Zygmunt "Zygi" Wilf (born April 22, 1950) is the principal owner of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.

Early life
Zygi Wilf was born in Germany on April 22, 1950. His parents, Jozef and Erzebet Wilf, are both Holocaust survivors from Nazi occupied Poland. The Wilf family immigrated to the United States from Europe in the early 1950s and settled in Hillside, New Jersey. After a brief stint as used car salesmen, Joseph and his brother Harry Wilf began purchasing apartment buildings and renting units. Eventually, the brothers began building single-family homes and founded Garden Homes. A successful real estate developer, his two main family-run businesses, Garden Homes and Garden Commercial Properties, have constructed some 25,000 homes in 39 states across the country since 1955; the two entities and their affiliates own and manage 25000000 sqft in retail and business property.

Education
Zygi Wilf attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, earning a bachelor's degree in economics in 1971, and later graduated from New York Law School in Manhattan. He also received an honorary degree at Fairleigh Dickinson's 69th Commencement Ceremony in May 2012.

Career
After working as an attorney, Wilf joined the family business and became head of one of the company's affiliates, Garden Commercial Properties. Wilf has grown the company from four shopping centers in Northern New Jersey to over a hundred properties, including several large malls. In addition to the commercial properties, the Garden companies also own and manage 90,000 apartment units around the country.

Minnesota Vikings
Wilf and five partners purchased the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League from Red McCombs in 2005 for a reported 600 million. Forbes estimates the 2012 value of the franchise at 975 million, or 22nd of the 32 NFL teams.

For several years the Vikings and Wilf have stated that their current home, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is inadequate and have lobbied for a new stadium. The Minnesota Vikings moved to within a governor's signature of getting a new $975 million stadium on May 10 after the state Senate approved a plan that relies heavily on public financing. The deal has been signed by Mark Dayton and was approved by the Minneapolis City Council, ending any speculation of relocation.

Net worth
Sources put Wilf's net worth at about $1.3 billion.