Alex Spanos

Spanos was born in Stockton, California, to Greek immigrants Constantino and Evanthia Spanos. His father owned a bakery In 1942, he dropped out of college at the California Polytechnic School and joined the Army Air Force training as a pilot but left the program and instead served as a tail gunner during World War II. ==Career==

In 1951, The corporation is based in Stockton and has 10 subsidiaries. In 1984, Spanos bought 60% of the San Diego Chargers (now Los Angeles Chargers) from majority owner Eugene Klein for $48.3 million. and Bill Fox, a local community leader, until his death in 2020. Since 1993, Spanos' son Dean has handled the daily operations of the franchise. ==Philanthropy and political contributions==

Spanos donated $500,000 to renovate the Fox Theatre in downtown Stockton, and with the approval of the City of Stockton, renamed the facility the Fox California Bob Hope Theatre. The Alex G. Spanos Center at University of the Pacific in Stockton, the Alex G. Spanos Stadium for Lincoln High School in Stockton, the Alex G. Spanos Sports and Recreation Complex in Sacramento, the Alex G. Spanos Training Center at UCSD are named after him. From 2006 to 2022, the Mustang Memorial Field at Cal Poly also bore his name, after he donated $8 million to renovate the stadium. Spanos was one of the largest contributors to George W. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004. By contributing $5 million to 527 groups that supported the Bush campaign in 2004, Spanos ranked among the top five GOP donors. President Bush appointed Spanos to the Kennedy Center board in 2004. Spanos was inducted into the California Building Industry Hall of Fame in 2005. Spanos also received the AHEPA Award, an award that recognizes members of the community for their contributions and achievements in their chosen field of endeavor. ==Personal life==

In 1948, Spanos married Faye Papafaklis. In his autobiography, Spanos credited his wife with much of his success and stated that the couple did not recall "one real argument." Spanos resided in Stockton, California. He also owned property in Las Vegas, Nevada. Spanos had a seven-way heart bypass in 2000, Spanos wrote a book called Sharing the Wealth: My Story, which detailed his rise from a moneyless man of 27 years to become a billionaire. Spanos was the first person to be on the winning teams in both the Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm Desert (1977) and the Bob Hope British Pro-Am (1980). Spanos died October 9, 2018, age 95, of complications from dementia that had been diagnosed ten years prior. According to friends, he had been brokenhearted by the death of his wife two months earlier. ==See also==