Lewis Katz, the co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the former owner of the New Jersey Nets, died in a plane crash Saturday night, according to a report on Philly.com.
Katz, along with seven other passengers, died when their private plane crashed just before 10 p.m. Saturday night and erupted into a fireball, according to witnesses. There were no survivors.
Katz had just established ownership of the Philadelphia paper last Tuesday, as he and his partner H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest bought out other partners for $88 million to establish control of the paper. He also owns Philly.com and The Philadelphia Daily News. He sold the New Jersey Nets to Bruce Ratner in 2004, who eventually played a part in moving the team to Brooklyn. He also had an ownership stake in the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
Lenfest said that Katz’s son Drew will take his place on the board of the paper.