DETROIT (WWJ) -- Ilitch Holdings CEO Chris Ilitch and his wife Kelle Ilitch have filed for divorce, according to a report by the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday.
Court records show the couple filed for divorce in Oakland County in August 2024, according to the report. Chris Ilitch oversees the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and other Ilitch-owned companies, including Little Caesars Pizza and Olympia Development.
Chris Ilitch took over operations for the teams and businesses when his father, Mike Ilitch, died in 2017.
The Free Press reports while the ownership structures of the teams and businesses are unknown the divorce raises questions about what comes next for the Ilitch family’s business empire. The report says the Red Wings are owned by Ilitch Holdings, while the Tigers – according to Forbes and Crain’s Detroit Business – are in a family trust. Chris Ilitch is listed as Tigers CEO and chair and Red Wings governor, president and CEO, per the Free Press report.
Divorces involving sports franchise owners “tend to spark fan jitters over potential sales and jeopardized operations,” according to the Free Press report, but whether the Ilitches’ split will have any bearing on the Tigers or Red Wings “will largely depend on Chris' ownership stake and whether legal documents are in place to prevent their being considered marital assets, such as a pre- or post-nuptial agreement."
James Quiqley of Chicago-based Beermann LLP — which handles high-asset divorces — told the Free Press it is “not likely” that Ilitch could “be forced to sell his interest if he needed cash in the event of a huge divorce settlement or operation,” nor is it likely that it could “strip the franchises of their cash flow and prevent them from signing players.”
“These franchises are so valuable and the ownership or transfer of them in the family is going to be so closely guarded that even a loving spouse of 20-something years is going to be kept out of that,” Quigley said, according to the Free Press report.
The Free Press reports Kelle Ilitch counter filed shortly after Chris Ilitch filed.
The couple married in 2001, have three children together and are seeking joint custody of their only remaining minor, a 14-year-old son, according to the Free Press. The divorce is expected to go to trial in April.