Florida Panthers owner to head Army

NHL team will likely remain under Viola family’s control

SUNRISE — When Vinnie Viola purchased the Florida Panthers more than three years ago, he vowed to make the struggling franchise great and win a Stanley Cup championship.

On Monday morning, Viola joined a new team with a loftier mission.

Viola was nominated to serve as secretary of the Army by President-elect Donald Trump. It is not a cabinet-level position, but like cabinet secretaries, it requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. If confirmed in his new job, Viola will oversee the Army and report to the secretary of defense.

The Viola family will retain ownership of the Panthers and, pending National Hockey League approval, Viola has named minority owner Doug Cifu to take his

place as chairman and governor of Sunrise Sports and Entertainment. Cifu has been serving as vice chairman and alternate governor.

“It is an honor to be nominated to serve our country as President-elect Trump’s secretary of the Army,” Viola said in a statement. “A primary focus of my leadership will be ensuring that America’s soldiers have the ways and means to fight and win across the full spectrum of conflict.”

Viola, 61, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1977 and later graduated from the U.S. Army Airborne, Infantry and Ranger Schools. He served in the 101st Airborne Division and has repeatedly said his time in the military has shaped all facets of his civilian life.

After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Viola founded and funded the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

The former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange and founder of Virtu Financial Inc. bought the Panthers in September 2013 for about $250 million.

“Whether it is his distinguished military service or highly impressive track record in the world of business, Vinnie has proved throughout his life that he knows how to be a leader and deliver major results in the face of any challenge,” Trump said in a statement. “The American people, whether civilian or military, should have great confidence that Vinnie Viola has what it takes to keep America safe and oversee issues of concern to our troops in the Army.”

Viola, who Forbes estimates to be worth about $1.8 billion, was born to Italian immigrants in Brooklyn, N.Y. His primary residence remains in New York, but his family also has a home in Miami. He is likely to split his time between New York and Washington, D.C., in this new position, said Matt Caldwell, the Panthers’ president and CEO.

Cifu, who has been Viola’s right-hand man at Virtu Financial and with the Panthers is now prepared to assume Viola’s role at the top of the hockey team.

“We couldn’t be prouder of Vinnie and what this means for our country,” Cifu said. “Vinnie and I have worked hand in hand as partners and friends with the Panthers and other businesses, so I feel blessed and well prepared to continue the Viola family’s vision for the Panthers.”

Viola and his wife Teresa have three adult sons: John, 33, Michael,30, and Travis, 29. He said upon taking ownership of the Panthers that they would ultimately have significant roles in the team’s future. Travis is already involved in hockey operations and scouting. Michael assists Caldwell with budget issues, and John helps run the Panthers’ charity foundation.

“This is a family business. and it’s a long-term commitment,” Viola said when first introduced as owner. “The objective is for my sons to succeed to the active management of this company.

“If not for my son Travis we would not be here. He’s been the keeper of my hockey passion.”

Since Viola took over the Panthers, they have improved on the ice. Last season, the team won the Atlantic Division and set a franchise record with 47 wins.

Meanwhile, Viola has tried to incorporate military values into the operation of the team.

He’s hired fellow West Point alumni into high positions throughout the organization — including Caldwell and co-assistant general manager Eric Joyce, who are both Army veterans and served in Iraq.

The Panthers have also paid homage to the armed forces in several ways. They made preseason trips to West Point two of the past three years and incorporated nods to the military into their uniform redesign this offseason.

It was at West Point this October that Viola personally recommended the unusual choice of fourth-line center Derek MacKenzie to be team captain.

“I’m not surprised [about his nomination] considering who Vinnie is and the time he spent in the Army,” MacKenzie said Monday. “I don’t think they could’ve found a better guy, and I’m certainly proud of him.

“Anytime a player can play for an owner that tries to eliminate all the excuses and gives us an opportunity to win, is a great owner,” MacKenzie added. “I’m sure he’ll do the same for the USA.”

Panthers general manager and interim coach Tom Rowe said the team is “still in awe of the whole thing.”

Rowe also said that Viola — who last month fired coach Gerard Gallant over the phone after a 3-2 road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes — will still “definitely have his hands on the pulse here, that’s for sure.”

Viola didn’t make any donations in the 2016 presidential race, campaign finance records show. At the presidential level, Viola has been steadfastly Republican, donating to John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. Viola has been a generous and bipartisan donor over the years when it comes to congressional races, with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee being the chief beneficiary of his donations — more than $100,000 between 2005 and 2009.

As part of the Sunrise Sports and Entertainment, the Panthers leased the BB&T Center for a Trump rally for $77,125 in August. Trump’s campaign team also leased out the Panthers’ plane for the rally.

According to Forbes, Viola is the 374th wealthiest person in America, with a net worth of $1.79 billion. That is not unusual in the Trump administration, with multibillionaires Wilbur Ross, Betsy DeVos and Todd Ricketts all tapped for cabinet-level or, in the case of Ricketts, deputy secretary positions.

Like Ricketts, Viola made his fortune in the stock market. Ricketts comes from the family that founded Ameritrade and went on to buy the Chicago Cubs. Viola founded Virtu Financial, a high-frequency trading company, before buying the Panthers. The firm conducts millions of trades per day on high-speed computing systems.

Former Broward County Commissioner Marty Kiar was one of three commissioners who voted against giving the Panthers another $86 million in public funds last year. His side lost that vote 5-3. But Kiar praised Trump’s nomination of Viola.

“I think it is great,” Kiar said Monday. “He is someone who I have found to care very deeply about our troops and veterans. Every time I met with him or his team in the past, helping servicewomen and servicemen and veterans was always spoken of to be his priority.

“This is also an exciting pick for Broward County.”

The secretary of the Army post has a salary of $185,100. The chief of staff of the Army, the force’s highest-ranking military leader, reports to the secretary of the Army.

That same chain of command carries through the Navy and Air Force, ensuring civilian control of the military.

If all of Trump’s cabinet picks are successful, Viola would report to retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who is the president-elect’s pick for secretary of defense.

However, because of the necessity of civilian control, Mattis would need Congress to grant an exception to the law in order to become Viola’s boss. Because the United States places a premium on civilian control of the military, defense secretaries, while often coming from a military background, must have been retired from the service for seven years before taking the job. Mattis retired from the Marines in 2013.

Viola made his fortune in the stock market. He founded Virtu Financial, a high-frequency trading company, before buying the Panthers.

Viola