NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees owner known as "The Boss" for his tempestuous style, has died at age 80, the New York Daily News reported on its website on Tuesday, citing an unnamed, high-placed team source.
Steinbrenner, 80, passed away this morning in Tampa, Florida, the team said in a statement from his family.
"Funeral arrangements will be private," said the statement. "There will be an additional public service with details to be announced at a later date."
Steinbrenner demanded results and got them running America’s most successful sports franchise. The Yankees won seven World Series titles and 11 American League pennants since he bought the fabled club in 1973. He handed over daily operations of the club to his sons in recent years.
"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing," he once said.
Steinbrenner’s Yankees empire, which he purchased for $10 million, is now worth billions. Steinbrenner, who turned 80 on the U.S. Independence Day holiday on July 4, was a well-known figure in popular culture, routinely pictured on the back pages of New York’s tabloids wearing his familiar white turtleneck under a blue blazer and regularly skewered in the TV sitcom "Seinfeld."
