The bills announced the addition of 10 limited partners to the ownership group. Two women – Sue McCollum and Theresia Gouw – are among the non-controlling minority interests, something important to owner Terry Pegula.
Pegula’s wife, Kim, was deeply involved with the organization until she suffered a debilitating cardiac arrest two and a half years ago, and her presence is missed, Terry Pegula said.
“One of the things I also wanted to accomplish was bring in some women,” Pegula said at the NFL owners meetings in Irving, Texas. “We have two female ambassadors who are very successful business people. You know, I have three daughters involved with the team and hopefully more in the future, and I think it’s good that they learn some business acumen and some feminine input, because when Kim went down, it meant a great loss of influence over my daughters, as far as the business side goes. She can’t be involved now.
Kim Pegula made a public appearance in July, breaking up the team’s post-training meeting. She experienced “significant expressive aphasia and memory problems” as a result of a brain injury following her cardiac arrest shortly after her 53rd birthday in June 2022, according to an essay her daughter, professional tennis player Jessica Pegula, wrote for The Players Tribune in February 2023.
“We all miss her, especially me,” Terry Pegula said Wednesday. “She was always the personal part, sending out Christmas cards, making cookies for the coaches. She would get up at 3 a.m. every Sunday when we played, baking cookies for the coaches. We all miss that.”
