Arizona Coyotes' billionaire former owner is the cheapest cheapskate of them all

I see the former Arizona Coyotes owner who is hoping to deliver a new professional hockey team to the Valley has laid off his hockey staff.

Alex Meruelo, who recently tucked a $1 billion check into his hip pocket after selling the Coyotes and sending the team packing to Utah, apparently has no need to hang onto a hockey staff.

So, he sent the staff packing, too.

Oh, but don’t worry, he took care of his employees about as well as anyone should have expected, reportedly packing them off with one additional paycheck and health insurance through the month of July.

One paycheck.

Meruelo owns an island. He can't pay better?

Granted, Meruelo no longer needs a front-office staff given that he sold away our team in order to make a big score for himself.

But one paycheck?

This is a billionaire twice over, a guy who owns casinos, a food manufacturing company and an assortment of radio and TV stations. A guy who has an interest in banks, restaurants and construction.

He owns several mansions and trots the globe in his own jet. He owns his own freaking island in the Mediterranean.

And he can’t scrape up the cash to pay his hockey staff a decent severance?

Remember this, Arizona, when and if Meruelo wins next week’s auction for 110 acres of prime state land in north Phoenix.

He’s hoping to build a new hockey-entertainment complex there — one for which he certainly will be seeking a massive tax break with the promise of delivering an expansion NHL team to the Valley.

If Meruelo wins the June 27 auction, all indications are he’ll be asking the city of Phoenix to declare the land a theme park, allowing him to take a pass on paying state income taxes and city, county and state property taxes.

He wants a handout to build a new stadium

Stiffing your employees is not exactly a gesture of good will when you’ve got your hand out for a handout.

Sadly, last week’s Coyotes layoffs are not the first time that Meruelo has shown himself to be a complete cheapskate.

Maybe you remember that time in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the world tipped onto its side, and Meruelo announced he’d be taking take care of his part-time and hourly Coyotes employees through the regular season.

Coyotes skate north: And taxpayers dodge a puck

“We pride ourselves on treating all our staff and players like they are part of our family,” he said in a March 16, 2020, statement announcing he would pay them through the end of the season.

“I value my team members and am committed to making sure that everyone remains safe, secure and part of our great team. We are going through a difficult time right now and how we respond to this challenge will define us.”

A few weeks later, Meruelo laid off half the team’s staff, calling it “an extremely difficult decision for me and my family.”

“It’s never easy to take steps that affect the lives of our team members and their families, and I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding during this very difficult time,” he said on April 10, 2020, in announcing those layoffs. “We will get through this together.”

I wonder if he delivered a similar speech last week?

“How we respond to this challenge will define us,” Meruelo said four years ago.

Oh, how right he was.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Coyotes former owner is the cheapest cheapskate of them all