Nelson Skalbania
| Nelson Skalbania | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 12, 1938 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Alma mater |
University of British Columbia California Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | Businessman, Sports Franchise Owner, Engineer |
Nelson M. Skalbania (born February 12, 1938) is an engineer and businessman from Vancouver, British Columbia known for high-profile flipping of real estate and owning sports teams.
Career
Education
In 1961, Skalbania received his Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the University of British Columbia, then received his Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) designation in 1962 and a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1964 from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Consulting
Skalbania served as president and majority owner of McKenzie Snowball & Skalbania, consulting engineers, from 1971. Skalbania closed the practice in 1981 before going into bankruptcy.
Real Estate
Active in flipping real estate, including:
- Bought and sold property from Genstar Development Company and 31 Eaton's properties/stores across Canada
- Bought and sold Omni Complex in Atlanta, Georgia, Circus World in Orlando, and Opera Square, San Francisco
- Bought and sold Watergate Apartments, Oakland, California.
Sports
Skalbania bought and subsequently sold or folded several sports teams, including:
- Bought and sold the Edmonton Oilers and Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association.
- Moved the Atlanta Flames of the National Hockey League to Calgary
- Bought and folded the original Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, a team related to the current one only by name. Fans were infuriated by his remark, "It's not like I raped a nun."
- Bought and sold (after also moving this team to Calgary) the Memphis Rogues of the North American Soccer League.
- Bought and sold the Vancouver Canadians Class AAA baseball team.
- Bought the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League in 1996, but was forced into receivership.
References