Suns President and CEO Rick Welts resigns
Sep 9, 2011, 5:24 PM | Updated: 6:04 pm
Rick Welts stunned the sports world when he announced he was gay a few months back.
Friday he surprised people again, as he resigned from his post as president and chief executive officer of the Phoenix Suns.
According to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, Welts said he is not leaving for another job but instead to be in another city.
In the past year, Welts started a new relationship and his partner is in Sacramento. He plans to do speaking engagements and perhaps take an offer to write a book.
“The most important thing for me is to get my personal and professional lives better aligned,” Welts said. “They’ve probably never been aligned. I’m 58 years old and it’s time to do that.
Welts had been with the Suns since 2002, when he left Fox Sports Enterprises to become the Suns’ president and chief operating officer.
“My nine-plus years at the Suns have been incredibly rewarding thanks to a group of employees second to none in professional sports and the support of great ownership,” Welts said in a press release. “The Suns organization has always been a special place to work, and I leave knowing that will continue to be true in the future.”
