He was succeeded by his son Bill Wrigley Jr. as president and CEO.
With most of his money tied up in the Wrigley Company and the Cubs, he eventually sold the Cubs to the Chicago Tribune in 1981 to pay off the tax bill.
After assuming the company's presidency in 1961, Wrigley maintained its position as the world's largest manufacturer of chewing gum by venturing into Orbit, Freedent, Extra, Hubba Bubba, and Big Red.
They had three children, Alison Elizabeth, Philip Knight, and William Jr., before their marriage ended in divorce in 1969.
The following year in a ceremony on Catalina island, he married Joan Georgine Fisher.