Alex Meruelo (born March 27, 1964) is a Cuban-American billionaire[2][3] who holds business interests in banking, real estate, media, restaurants, food, casinos, and professional sports.
His family moved to Los Angeles, California, where they held a bridal shop and invested in local real estate.
[7] At the age of 23, he decided to open a new type of pizza restaurant catering to Latinos in the US and offering unusual toppings such as chorizo and jalapeños.
[12] In September 2011, Meruelo announced a $25 million investment in the renovation of the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.
In June 2019, he purchased majority ownership of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League from the previous sole owner Andrew Barroway who retained a minority stake.
[19] On March 27, 2023 NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that he would become the sole owner of the Arizona Coyotes after Andrew Barroway was indefinitely banned from the league after being arrested for the alleged strangulation of his wife.
As part of the agreement, the team would be declared "dormant" as Meruelo would continue with his efforts to build a new arena, with Meruelo becoming owner of a reactivated Coyotes team should he succeed in building the arena by the end of 2029, but would return all remaining Coyotes assets to the league should he fail by the end of the window.
[21] Just 10 days prior, it was proclaimed that a bid for 110 acres (44.5 hectares) north of Phoenix at an upcoming land auction was still in the works.
[22] On April 17, 2024, the Coyotes played their final game before deactivation at Mullett Arena, beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 without Meruelo in attendance.