In 1952, he was called up for service in the Korean War as Navy paymaster on the USS Siboney, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.
[citation needed] After graduating cum laude, from Notre Dame he briefly joined Standard Oil.
In the early 1960s, he built the first Holiday Inn in Janesville with other investors, including Cullen and the Ryan brothers, both owners of construction firms, and expanded to six other cities.
The Fitzgerald group later bought into banks and cable television franchises in Janesville (Total TV, Inc.) and Madison, Wisconsin.
[citation needed] He and Bud Selig founded the pay-per-view Sportsvue cable channel in Milwaukee, which carried Bucks and Brewers games throughout Wisconsin.
In 1986, Fitzgerald and Dan Finnane, who had also been involved with the Bucks, took over the Golden State Warriors, which they owned through 1995 when they sold to Chris Cohan.