Harold Katz, the founder of the first Nutrisystem center in Willow Grove and a former owner of the 76ers, died on Friday, January 24. He was 87.

According to his obituary in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mr. Katz invested $20,000 to open the first Nutrisystem center in Willow Grove in 1972 and went on to create the Nutrisystem franchise. By the time he sold it in 1986, the business had grown to become the nation’s largest medically supervised weight control company.

Mr. Katz owned the Sixers for almost 15 years and helped bring the city an NBA championship in 1983.

It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Harold Katz, who owned the Philadelphia 76ers from 1981-96. He was a successful businessman and entrepreneur who helped deliver an NBA title to our city and fans in 1983. We send our condolences to Harold’s family and friends. pic.twitter.com/1ab4zGnRGK

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 25, 2025

From his biography:

In 1977, sales tripled when Mr. Katz developed a line of nutritionally-sound, pre-packaged, pre-measured diet foods to be sold exclusively to Nutri/System center clients. In January 1980, Mr. Katz brought the company public, and listed it on the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Katz sold Nutri/System in 1986. At the time it was the largest medically-supervised weight control company in the world, with over 700 company owned and franchised centers nationwide.

To fulfill his lifelong ambition, Mr. Katz purchased the Philadelphia 76ers basketball organization in July of 1982. The Sixers worked relentlessly under Mr. Katz to obtain something that had eluded them since 1967: the NBA World Championship. Mr. Katz has been instrumental in the growth of basketball worldwide. He continued to operate the club as a successful business until April 1996, when the team was sold to Comcast Corporation.

Mr. Katz was also the founder of H. Katz Capital Group, a private equity firm, and served on the boards of directors of United Valley Bank, the Hero Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia, and the Police Athletic League, among other organizations, The Inquirer said. He was also chairman of the Fellowship Commission of Philadelphia and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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