Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies: Report

George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees owner known as 'The Boss' for his tempestuous style, has died at age 80, the New York Daily News reported on its website on Tuesday, citing an unnamed, high-placed team source.

Media reports said that he suffered a massive heart attack at his home in Tampa, Florida, and was rushed to hospital.

Steinbrenner demanded results and got them running America's most successful sports franchise. The Yankees won seven World Series titles and 11 American League pennants since he bought the fabled club in 1973. He handed over daily operations of the club to his sons in recent years.

"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing," he once said.

Steinbrenner's Yankees empire, which he purchased for $10 million, is now worth billions.

Steinbrenner, who turned 80 on the US Independence Day holiday on July 4, was a well-known figure in popular culture, routinely pictured on the back pages of New York's tabloids wearing his familiar white turtleneck under a blue blazer and regularly skewered in the TV sitcom Seinfeld.