William Wrigley, Jr. (September 30, 1861 – January 26, 1932) was a
U.S. chewing gum industrialist. He was founder and
eponym of the
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. He was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wrigley, Jr., is rumored to have co-founded his namesake company with a lesser known Canadian named J.W. Flavelle, who was a close childhood friend of Wrigley, Jr.