Mike Wright ’63, Gopher Football Star and Longtime Supervalu CEO, Dies at 81

Michael William Wright ’63, who captained the University of Minnesota football team and built Supervalu into one of the nation’s leading grocery chains, passed away at his home on Monday, Jan. 27, of complications from pneumonia. He was 81.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Wright attended high school at St. Thomas Military Academy, earning All-America honors in basketball and football. As an undergraduate at the University, he lettered in both sports, became captain of the 1959 Gopher football team, and was named an Academic All-American. A standout offensive lineman, Wright was drafted by the Green Bay Packers but signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League—at the time, the pay was better in Canada than in the NFL—and played on two CFL championship teams under coach and fellow Gopher alumnus Bud Grant.

Wright graduated with honors from the Law School, where he served as editor of the Minnesota Law Review and was named Order of the Coif. After a stint in the Army, he joined the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney, where he quickly rose to become a partner. At Dorsey, one of his clients was Supervalu; in 1981, the company hired him as its chairman and CEO. During Wright’s two decades at the helm, Supervalu became the largest grocery distributor in the United States and, led by its Cub Foods brand, the 10th-largest grocery retailer as well.

Wright’s connections to the Law School and the University ran deep. He was not only a generous donor to Minnesota Law, but a life member of the Board of Overseers (he served in the same role with the Carlson School of Management) and a trustee emeritus of the University of Minnesota Foundation. He was honored with the University of Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the “M” Club Hall of Fame. He chaired the Twin Cities United Way and the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; served as president of the Minnesota Business Partnership; and sat on numerous corporate boards, including those of Cargill, S.C. Johnson, the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Honeywell International. He loved coaching youth sports, playing golf, and, above all, spending time with his large family and his dog, Willie Nelson.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m.