Norman Braman (born August 23, 1932) is an American auto dealer and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. Norman and his brother-in-law, Ed Leibowitz, officially became the owners of the Eagles on April 29, 1985. Norman owned 65% of the team while Ed owned 35% until July 16, 1986 when Norman bought the rest of the team from Ed. Braman sold the team to movie executive Jeffrey Lurie in 1994.
Early life and education
Braman was born in 1932 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia, where his father owned a barbershop. Braman’s parents were both Jews who emigrated from Europe. His Romanian-born mother was a seamstress and his Polish father a barber. Braman was a water boy in his teenage years at the Eagles training camp, which was then in West Chester. During the season, he would sneak into Shibe Park to watch the team play. Braman attended West Philadelphia High School and graduated from Temple University in 1955 with a degree in business administration.
Career
He began his career in 1955 in the marketing and sales department for Seagram’s Distributors. In 1957, he founded Keystone Stores, a chain of self-service department stores, in Philadelphia. In 1964, he organized Philadelphia Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics, a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and was President and Chief Executive Officer.
[Sometime in the late 60s or early 70s, he went to work for Harry Miller, father of his wife Irma (Miller) Braman. He ultimately gained control of Irma’s father’s business, Bargaintown USA, originally located in Lebanon, PA. We find it curious that there is nothing in his bio covering this, or how he came to control Bargaintown USA, before moving on to own the Eagles. Note: the writer of this section went to school with his sister-in-law, Blossom Iris Miller, sister of Irma Braman.]
In 1972, he bought a Cadillac dealership in Tampa. Three years later he bought another in Miami and today he is CEO of Braman Enterprises, an umbrella company for his automotive businesses that include more than 20 car dealerships in Florida and Colorado selling Acura, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Cadillac, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Porsche and Rolls-Royce.
In 1982, he led a successful campaign against a city sales tax that would have renovated the Miami Orange Bowl for Dolphins owner Joe Robbie. From 1985 to 1994, he owned the Philadelphia Eagles football team, having purchased it from Leonard Tose. During Braman’s time as owner, the Eagles were NFL NFC Eastern Division champion in 1988 and won at least 10 games for five straight years through 1993.
Braman served on the Board of Governors of various institutions. In 1999, he helped defeat then-County Mayor Alex Penelas campaign for a one-cent sales tax that could have generated billions of dollars to spend on mass transit, while potentially hurting automobile sales.
He recently filed a lawsuit against the Florida Marlins and others over their plans to build a new ballpark. In all seven arguments however, Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen ruled in favor of the Marlins and Miami-Dade County, allowing construction to proceed. Braman however says that he is ready to fight his case as far as the Supreme Court.
| Norman Braman | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 23, 1932 West Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Residence | Miami, Florida |
| Nationality | United States |
| Known for | Owner of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1985–1994 |
| Net worth |  US $ 1.89 billion (June 2015) |
| Spouse(s) | Irma Miller |
| Children | Debra Wechsler Suzi Lustgarten |
American businessman Norman Braman has an estimated net worth of $1.81 billion as of April 2016 according to Forbes. Braman is known to have acquired his massive net worth from art and car dealerships. Of Jewish, Romanian and Polish ancestry, Norman Braman was born on August 23, 1932 in Westchester, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Temple University where he completed his degree in Business Administration in 1955. Currently based in Miami, Florida, Norman Braman is married to Irma Braman with whom he has two children named Suzi and Debra.
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