Robert Hearth Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development, and a private equity portfolio. Since 1994, Kraft has owned the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He also owns the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (MLS), which he founded in 1996. In 2017, he founded the Boston Uprising, an Overwatch League esports team that competed from 2017 until it disbanded in January 2024. According to Forbes, he had an estimated net worth of $11.1 billion as of July 2024.Robert Kraft, Chairman & CEO, The Kraft Group, Forbes Real Time Net Worth (as of 26 July 2024)
Early life Kraft was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of Sarah Bryna (Webber) and Harry Kraft, a dress manufacturer in Boston's Chinatown. His mother was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia; his father was a lay leader at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline and wanted his son to become a rabbi. The Krafts were a Modern Orthodox Jewish family. Robert attended the Edward Devotion SchoolNew York Times: "'Between You and Me'" By Mike Wallace with Gary Paul Gates January 22, 2006 and graduated from Brookline High School.Massachusetts Live: "For New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, an off-season of personal tragedy, professional triumph" By Howard Ulman September 6, 2011 As a child, he sold newspapers outside Braves Field in Boston. During high school, Kraft was unable to participate in most sports because it interfered with his after-school Hebrew studies and observance of the Sabbath.
Kraft attended Columbia University on an academic scholarship and he served as class president. He played tennis and safety on the school's freshman and lightweight football teams."Robert Kraft to Be Inducted to Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame" by Paige Allen June 18, 2012 During that time, Kraft lived in Carman Hall. He met Myra Hiatt at a delicatessen in Boston's Back Bay in 1962, and they married in June 1963. Kraft graduated from Columbia that year, and in 1965 he received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Business career Kraft began his professional career with the Rand-Whitney Group, a Worcester-based packaging company run by his father-in-law, Jacob Hiatt. In 1968, he gained control of the company through a leveraged buyout. Kraft remains the chairman. In 1972, he founded International Forest Products, a trader of physical paper commodities. The two companies are the largest privately held paper and packaging companies in the United States. Kraft has said he started the company out of a hunch that the increase in international communications and transportation would lead to an expansion of global trade in the late 20th century.
International Forest Products became a top 100 US exporter/importer in 1997 and in 2001 was ranked 7th on the Journal of Commerces list in that category.International Forest Products LLC website: "IFP ranked 27th among largest U.S. exporters and first among New England exporters" May 29, 2012 In 1991, Kraft said of the business, "We do things for a number of companies, including Avon, Kodak, cosmetics companies, candies, toys." The company produced both corrugated and folding cartons, which he said were "used to package everything from the Patriot missile, to mints, to Estee Lauder, Indiana Glass, and Polaroid." Kraft acquired interests in other areas, and ultimately formed the Kraft Group as an umbrella for them in 1998.
Kraft was an investor in New England Television Corp., which gained control of the channel 7 license for Boston in 1982, and he became a director of the board in 1983, after the newly licensed station, WNEV-TV, signed on, replacing the former WNAC-TV. In 1986, Kraft was named president of the corporation. In 1991, he exercised his option to sell his shares for an estimated $25 million.
Sports ownership Boston Lobsters In 1974, Kraft, Harold Bayne, Herbert Hoffman, Bob Mades, and Paul Slater purchased the Boston Lobsters of World TeamTennis (WTT). The group spent heavily to lure a number of top players, including Martina Navratilova, and the Lobsters became one of the best teams in WTT. After the 1978 season, Kraft announced that the franchise would fold. The league itself folded soon thereafter.
After the Lobsters folded, Kraft was also mentioned as a bidder for the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics.
New England Patriots
Kraft has been a New England Patriots fan since their American Football League days and had been a season ticket holder since 1971, when the team moved to Schaefer Stadium. In 1985, he bought a 10-year option on Foxboro Raceway, a horse track adjacent to the stadium, and the purchase prevented Patriots owner Billy Sullivan from holding non-Patriot events at the stadium while races were being held. Kraft took advantage of the fact that the Sullivans owned the stadium but not the surrounding land; it was the beginning of a quest to buy the stadium and the Patriots. Sullivan's family was reeling from a series of bad investments, principally The Jackson Five 1984 Victory Tour, for which they had to pledge Sullivan Stadium as collateral. Those problems ultimately forced Sullivan to sell controlling interest of the team in 1988, while the stadium lapsed into bankruptcy.
In 1988, Kraft outbid several competitors to buy the stadium out of bankruptcy court from Sullivan for $22 million. The stadium was considered outdated and nearly worthless, but the purchase included the stadium's lease to the Patriots, which ran through 2001. Kraft bid on the Patriots franchise as well, but he lost to Victor Kiam. Sullivan and Kiam then tried to move the team to Jacksonville, but Kraft refused to let them break the lease. Kiam was nearly brought down by bad investments of his own and was forced to sell the Patriots to James Orthwein in 1992.
In 1994, Orthwein offered Kraft $75 million to buy out the remainder of the team's lease at Foxboro Stadium so he could move it to St. Louis, but Kraft declined. Orthwein was no longer interested in operating the team in New England and decided to sell it. But the operating covenant required that any potential buyer negotiate with Kraft. With this in mind, Kraft launched what amounted to a hostile takeover, offering $172 million for an outright purchase. Future St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke offered more money ($200 million) with the intent to move to St. Louis. But Orthwein would have been saddled with all relocation expenses and any legal expenses from breaking the lease. When Kraft made known that he would go to court to enforce the covenant and force Kroenke to stay in Foxboro, Orthwein had little choice but to accept Kraft's offer, the highest ever made for an NFL team at the time.
Kraft said that his passion for the Patriots led him to "break every one of my financial rules" in pursuit of the team. He still believes he "overpaid" for the franchise. Kraft keeps a Victory Tour poster in his office as a reminder of what set in motion the events that allowed him to buy the Patriots. After the NFL approved the sale, the Patriots sold out their entire 1994 season, the first full sell-out in franchise history. Every Patriots home game–preseason, regular season, and playoffs–has been sold out since. In 2023, the Patriots were one of the NFL's most valuable franchises, estimated by Forbes to be worth $7 billion.Full 2023 NFL franchise values: Which team is worth the most?" , nbcboston.com (quoting Forbes), August 31, 2023
In 1998, Kraft considered moving the Patriots to Hartford, Connecticut, based on an offer that the state of Connecticut would finance a new stadium, but he terminated the deal just before it became binding, instead building a new stadium in Foxborough with Massachusetts infrastructure funding. In 2002, Kraft financed a $350-million stadium for the Patriots initially called CMGI Field but renamed Gillette Stadium. In 2007, he began to develop the land around Gillette Stadium, creating Patriot Place, a $375-million open-air shopping and entertainment center. The development included "The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon", a multi-story museum and hall of fame attached to the stadium, and the "CBS Scene", a CBS-themed restaurant.
On January 27, 2000, Kraft traded a first round draft pick to the New York Jets for the rights to hire Bill Belichick as head coach. The trade was criticized but proved successful: Belichick led the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships, nine conference championships, and 16 division titles. In the sixth round of the 2000 draft, the Patriots acquired quarterback Tom Brady, who would be the team's starter from 2001 to 2019. The relationship between Kraft, Belichick, and Brady has been credited with producing one of the most successful sports dynasties in football, although in later years the personal relationship between the three grew strained.
Under Kraft's ownership, the Patriots experienced sustained success for the first time in franchise history. While they appeared in Super Bowl XX under the Sullivans, this was one of only six playoff appearances in 34 years. Indeed, that Super Bowl season saw only the second playoff victory in franchise history. The Patriots have made the playoffs 21 times in Kraft's 27 years as owner. They have won 19 AFC East titles, including all but three since 2001 and 11 in a row from 2009 to 2019. The Patriots represented the AFC in the Super Bowl in 1996 (lost), 2001 (won), 2003 (won), 2004 (won), 2007 (lost), 2011 (lost), 2014 (won), 2016 (won), 2017 (lost), 2018 (won), and 2025 (lost). After having never won more than 11 games before Kraft's arrival, the team has won at least 12 games 14 times, including finishing the 2007 regular season undefeated before losing to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.
Of Kraft's role in helping settle the NFL lockout before the 2011 season, Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday said, "He is a man who helped us save football."
In 2005, during a visit to Saint Petersburg, Kraft gave Russian President Vladimir Putin his third Super Bowl ring. In a statement released after the visit, Kraft said he did so out of "respect and admiration" for the Russian people and Putin's leadership. Kraft later said he had not originally intended to give Putin the ring and that his statement had been issued under pressure from the White House after Putin had kept it. The ring is on display with state gifts at the Kremlin.
Former Patriot Ryan O'Callaghan wrote that Kraft supported him when he publicly came out as gay in 2017. According to O'Callaghan, Kraft invited him to a reception and said "What you did took a lot of courage. I'm so proud of you" and that he would be "forever a Patriot".
In June 2024, Kraft enshrined Tom Brady into the Patriots Hall of Fame and announced that Brady's jersey number 12 would be retired. Over 60,000 Patriots fans attended the ceremony.
Soccer
In 1996, Kraft founded the New England Revolution, a charter member of Major League Soccer which began playing alongside the Patriots at Foxboro Stadium. Kraft also owned the San Jose Clash (later San Jose Earthquakes) from 1998 to 2000.
In November 2005, Kraft met with Rick Parry, the chief executive of English Premier League team Liverpool. Kraft was rumored to be interested in investing money into the 2004–05 Champions League winners. He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Liverpool is a great brand and it's something our family respects a lot. We're always interested in opportunities and growing, so you never know what can happen." However, the club was eventually sold to American duo George Gillett and Tom Hicks. Liverpool is now owned by Fenway Sports Group, owners of fellow Boston-based sport team the Boston Red Sox.