Christopher Ilitch would never claim to be the flashiest member of his large family.
"I have a business school background," he told a Free Press reporter in a 2005 interview. "I'm very methodical. I'm very analytical."
No one among a wide range of business associates and acquaintances disputes that self-assessment. The sixth of seven kids born to Mike and Marian Ilitch, Christopher Ilitch has earned a reputation as a careful, deliberative business leader who takes a data-driven, analytical approach to solving problems and who won’t be rushed in his decision making.
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Some who know him say Christopher is more like his mother, long the behind-the-scenes overseer of the family’s finances, than his more flamboyant father, who reigned as the public face of the family's pizza, sports, entertainment, and real estate empire.