Peter Bynoe

Peter Charles Bernard Bynoe (born March 20, 1951) is a Chicago attorney and businessman, formerly the only African-American equity partner in the Chicago office of DLA Piper. In 1989, he and his business partner Bertram Lee were the first African-Americans to buy a controlling interest in a National Basketball Association (NBA) team, when they purchased a 37.5% share of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, and he is among the most influential minority figures in sports law and management.

Bynoe kept the Chicago White Sox from leaving Chicago by developing a New Comiskey Park (now known as Rate Field). He has become a negotiator for professional sports teams' venues. In addition, he was involved in the development of the 1996 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Bynoe serves on several boards of directors.

Personal background Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Bynoe came from a well-respected family. His father Victor C. Bynoe, had emigrated from his native Barbados at age 13, and after graduating from Northeastern University with degrees in Civil Engineering and Law, became a successful attorney. (At one point, he represented Boston Celtics star Bill Russell.) He later became commissioner of Veterans' Services in Boston, and served on the board of the Boston Housing Authority. Peter's mother Ethel was American;

Bynoe attended William Lloyd Garrison Elementary School, and graduated from Boston Latin School in 1968. He credited his parents with instilling high standards and expecting him to achieve in school.

Bynoe's entire post-secondary education was at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He obtained his bachelor's degree cum laude at Harvard College in 1972. He then received his master's degree, an M.B.A. in 1976, with an emphasis on finance and marketing, from Harvard Business School. His Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School had a focus on corporate planning and regulation. In addition to being admitted to the practice of law before the Illinois State Bar, Bynoe is a licensed real estate broker in Illinois.

Business career Bynoe oversaw the development of U.S. Cellular Field to keep the Chicago White Sox from leaving Chicago. Bynoe began his professional career in 1976 at Citibank. By 1982, Bynoe passed the Illinois bar examination. He left Lowry and Associates in 1982, at which time he founded and managed Telemat Ltd., a business consulting firm.

His career path changed in 1987 when Harold Washington, whose election campaign he had worked for and contributed to, called Bynoe to inform him that the Chicago White Sox were threatening to leave Chicago. From January 1988 to June 1992, Bynoe served as the executive director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, a joint venture of the City of Chicago and State of Illinois, which gave him complete supervisory, planning and executing responsibility for the $250 million construction of New Comiskey Park for the Chicago White Sox, which was completed as scheduled and well within its budget.

In November 1989, Bynoe and Bertram Lee purchased the Denver Nuggets. Lee and Bynoe had worked together in Boston years earlier, and Bynoe thought of Lee as a mentor. They had kept in touch, and were involved in several real estate dealings together. But Lee and Bynoe were unable to meet the deadline to purchase the team from then-owner Sidney Shlenker. It would later be revealed that Lee had problems raising the needed capital. It was Bynoe, with the assistance of David Stern, Jay Pritzker, and Jerrold Wexler, who salvaged the transaction over the course of six months.

Bynoe was hired in 2008 by Chicago-based Loop Capital Markets LLC. Bynoe serves as managing director of Corporate Finance.

In August 2013, Bynoe left his executive role at Loop Capital Markets LLC to become CEO of Rewards Network, a company controlled by investor Sam Zell that offers loyalty programs for restaurants.

Bynoe now serves as a senior advisor to DLA Piper, and is the head lawyer for WWE.

Other achievements Bynoe consulted on the development of Centennial Olympic Stadium, which eventually was converted into Turner Field, shown here. Bynoe served as a consultant to the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority and the Atlanta Committee to Organize the Olympic Games to plan the 85,000 seat Centennial Olympic Stadium within a $210 million construction budget. The stadium has been converted to the 45,000 seat Turner Field baseball stadium for the Atlanta Braves who use it under a lease agreement Bynoe negotiated. In 2007, Bynoe was announced as a director He has also served as a director for Uniroyal Technology Corporation, Jacor Communications (acquired by Clear Channel Communications), J&G Industries, Huffman-Koos, Inc., the River Valley Savings Bank, and Blue Chip Broadcasting (acquired by Radio One, Inc).