10 Things You Didn’t Know about Kansas City Royals Owner David Glass

David Glass is an American business-man who tends to be known for a couple of things. First, he has played an important role in the rise of Walmart as a multi-national colossus of the retail sector. Second, he is the owner of the Kansas City Royals, where whether fairly or unfairly, he has managed to pick up a reputation for being one of the worst owners in the MLB (until he finally gave them their first championship only a few short years ago). Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about David Glass:

1. Born in Oregon County, MO

Glass was born on a farm situated in Oregon County, which can be found in the state of Missouri. Based on its name as well as its naming in 1845, it should come as no surprise to learn that it was named for the Territory of Oregon. This is because the Oregon Question was a serious issue between the United Kingdom and the United States in those times.

2. Grew Up in Mountain View, MO

With that said, Glass grew up in a city called Mountain View, which can be found in Howell County rather than Oregon County. Like its name suggests, the city was named thus because its elevated location provided its initial residents with excellent views of their surroundings.

3. Graduated from Missouri State University

Education-wise, Glass comes from Missouri State University. To be exact, he comes from the Springfield campus of Missouri State University, which is relevant because the school has another 2-year campus that can be found in the city of West Plains.

4. Served as Executive Vice-President of Finance at Walmart

Most people will be familiar with Glass’s business career because of his time at Walmart. One of the executive positions that he held at said corporation was the Executive Vice-President of Finance, which is responsible for overseeing its accounting as well as other financial functions. Something that is critical for a business’s success in the short run as well as the long run.

5. Served as Chief Operating Officer at Walmart

Later, Glass received a promotion to the position of Chief Operating Officer, which is often stated as COO for the sake of convenience. As its name states, the COO is responsible for overseeing the routine operations of a corporation, meaning that it comes with a huge amount of responsibility, so much so that it is often the second-in-command to the CEO.

6. Served as CEO at Walmart

Later still, Glass was promoted to the position of CEO at Walmart, where he played a pivotal role in ensuring its rise from more than a hundred stores to thousands and thousands of stores in both the United States and other countries. In part, he was known for being more interested in tech than his predecessor, with an excellent example being his role in supporting the trend forecasting software called Retail Link.

7. Became Sole Owner of Kansas City Royals in 2000

In 2000, Glass became the sole owner of the Kansas City Royals. This happened because a higher bid from Miles Prentice was rejected by the MLB because of the belief that Prentice didn’t have enough net worth to ward off the worst in case the baseball team sustained serious losses. Unfortunately, there were no other serious bidders who were willing to keep the Kansas City Royal in Kansas City, which is why Glass won by default.

8. Brought Cost-Cutting to the Kansas City Royals

Much has been said about Glass bringing his policy of cost-cutting from Walmart to the Kansas City Royals. Due to this, the team became very profitable but very uncompetitive, so much so that it turned from being a serious playoff prospect in the 1970s and 1980s to one of the worst MLB teams in the 1990s and early 2000s.

9. Has Had Hostile Interactions with the Press

On several occasions, Glass has had hostile interactions with the press. For example, there was the time that he stormed out of a Dateline interview when confronted with the fact that Walmart’s “Made in America” marketing campaign lacked substance. Likewise, there was the time when he revoked the press credentials of a couple of reporters who had asking him questions about his management of the team, which proceeded to create a backlash against him.

10. Hardliner in the MLB Strike of 1994 and 1995

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Glass was one of the MLB owners who took a hardline position against the players during the MLB strike of 1994 and 1995. On top of refusing to settle without a salary cap, he wanted to bring in replacement players for those who were on strike, which was particularly remarkable because a court had ruled that would have been in violation of labor laws.