Gillett graduated from
Lake Forest Academy in 1956. He attended
Amherst College and is a 1961 graduate of
Dominican College of Racine, Wisconsin. Gillett's first job following college was with
Crown Zellerbach as regional sales manager. Gillett's career continued in the 1960s in marketing and management consulting, initially with
McKinsey & Co. A sports fanatic since childhood, by 1966, he was business manager and partner of the
Miami Dolphins. In 1966, he purchased a 20% interest in the Miami Dolphins NFL franchise for $1 million. He sold this interest in 1968 for $3 million, and used some of the proceeds to purchase the nearly defunct
Harlem Globetrotters and later started Globetrotters Communications, a nationally syndicated radio group. He reinvigorated the Globetrotters by an intense marketing effort that included a popular cartoon series. In 1978, Gillett bought Packerland Packing Co. With the successful venture of Packerland, Gillett then diversified into radio and television with the start of Gillett Communications Company. At its peak, Gillett Communications owned network affiliates, the majority of which were CBS, in many of the country's major television markets. In 1979, he launched
Gillett Communications by buying three small television stations. Three years later he bought
WSM-TV in
Nashville, renamed WSMV. In 1984, Gillett acquired
Appleton-based
Post Corporation's eight television stations, 22 newspapers and associated plants; the non-broadcast assets were sold to
Thomson Corporation and other buyers. In 1986, he bought out the two
A.S. Abell stations as part of a spin-off resulting from the acquisition of A.S. Abell by
Times Mirror Company. In 1985, Gillett acquired Vail Associates'
Vail and
Beaver Creek ski resorts. He would often ride
chairlifts and greet guests, and launched a massive installation of high-speed detachable chairlifts. Gillett also supported major alpine ski events at a time when most ski areas in America declined to host international races, starting with the 1989 World Alpine Ski Championships, and through his support hosted the 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships. Gillett acquired majority control of the television assets of
Storer Communications in April 1987 from merchant banker
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and represented a valuation of nearly 15 times cash flow for the group. KKR maintained 45-percent minority ownership. To meet regulatory approval, Gillett's existing station group was spun off to Busse Broadcasting, a company formed by Gillett employees. Gillett's purchase was financed by
junk bonds through KKR Rumors began circulating of Gillett selling off one or several of his stations, while Gillett was reportedly interested in buying the
Seattle Seahawks. One of the Storer stations,
WJW-TV, was frequently the subject of sale rumors due to their ratings strength and stability. WSMV was sold off in early 1989, leading Gillett to boast it shored up his company's finances but the firm missed an October 1989 loan payment, prompting three creditors to ask the
United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that SCI Television be placed in involuntary
Chapter 7 bankruptcy while SCI offered a
debt for equity exchange. This exchange offer was agreed to within hours of a deadline placed by the Delaware court. Bondholders acquired a 39-percent stake in SCI, while Gillett saw his ownership reduced to 41 percent and KKR's reduced to 15 percent; KKR also cancelled a $190 million
debit note held on SCI. Gillett failed to meet a debt payment by August 1990, prompting
S&P Global Ratings to lower the rating for Gillett Holdings from a C to a D. Gillett tried to sell his
Baltimore station,
WMAR-TV to
Dillon, Read & Co.; while that sale attempt failed, a second attempt to
Scripps-Howard proved successful. Gillett's financial pressures continued to mount after the WMAR sale was renegotiated to a lower price and a Denver bankruptcy judge denied any further extensions on a
Chapter 11 filing. The
early 1990s recession also negatively impacted television station cash flow and advertising revenue, on top of Gillett's failure to divest assets prior to a decline in station valuation. Facing lawsuits from multiple creditors including
Apollo Partners,
Allstate and
Fidelity Investments, Gillett Holdings filed for Chapter 11 on July 26, 1991. After reaching another agreement with bondholders, Gillett Holdings was restructured in January 1992, with Gillett as a minority owner but maintaining day-to-day operational control. Investor
Ronald Perelman, regarded as a
corporate raider and the owner of
Revlon and
Marvel Entertainment, purchased majority control of SCI Television on February 17, 1993, pushing Gillett out entirely. The transaction came through a bankruptcy court-approved Chapter 11 reorganization: Perelman's holding company
MacAndrews & Forbes made a $100 million investment in SCI, which was still burdened by $1.3 billion in debt, in exchange for 53 percent of its equity.
WTVT, Gillett's station in
Tampa, Florida, was also included. After the deal closed, SCI was folded into Perelman's New World Entertainment and renamed
New World Communications. ==After junk bonds==