How did Robert Kraft make his money? Net worth and more to know about Patriots owner’s businesses

The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2019 and are set to take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60. The game will mark the first time that New England is in the Super Bowl without head coach Bill Belichick. 

With a victory over Seattle, New England would win its seventh Super Bowl under longtime owner Robert Kraft. Kraft, who bought the team in 1994, has been a fixture of the Patriots’ success for decades. 

Here’s a look at how Robert Kraft made his money to buy the Patriots back in the day. 

MORE: How many Super Bowls have the Patriots won?

How did Robert Kraft make his money? 

Kraft attended Columbia University and graduated in 1963. He also earned an MBA from Harvard in 1965. Following a brief stint in politics, he began working for his father-in-law’s company, Rand-Whitney Group, a Worcester-based packaging company. In 1968, he became the company’s president and remains its chairman.

In 1972, Kraft founded International Forest Products, which trades physical paper commodities. In 1997, the company became a top 100 U.S. exporter/importer. By 2001, the company ranked No. 7 on the Journal of Commerce’s list of exporter/importer companies.

Kraft was also an investor in New England Television Corp. In 1982, it gained control of the Channel 7 license in Boston. Kraft became a director on the board and was named president in 1986. In 1991, he sold his shares in the company for an estimated $25 million.

He bought the Patriots in 1994.

MORE: Revisiting New England’s 2019 Super Bowl win over Rams and drought that followed 

How much did Robert Kraft pay for the Patriots? 

Kraft paid $172 million for the franchise, which at the time was a record price for an NFL club. 

The franchise was struggling financially in the 1990s. Kraft’s quest to buy the team started with him purchasing the stadium for $25 million as part of a bankruptcy auction. 

Before that, Kraft purchased the surrounding parking lots at the stadium, as the previous owner Billy Sullivan defaulted on the loans for them. Kraft owned Foxborough Raceway since 1985, which prevented Sullivan from holding non-Patriot events at the stadium while races were being held. 

Kraft didn’t even out-bid Stan Kroenke, who was willing to pay $200 million for the club to ultimately relocate the team to St. Louis. Here’s former Bank of Boston chairman Chad Gifford, describing Kraft asking for the loan to buy the team, via a 2019 story from The Athletic:  

Robert came over to my office a few days before closing, an hour before D-hour and said, “I need more.” And we figured out a way to do it. People ask me, “Why did you do that?” I had support in the bank, and I had some very smart people working with me. But Robert came into my office that last time and looked me in the eye and said, “I’ll never let you down.” Ultimately, bricks and mortar and balance sheets don’t pay you back. People pay you back. And I believed him.

What you worry about then was the liquidity because the franchise was losing money, had a crappy stadium and a lousy team. We spent hours talking about how he was going to do it. If I’d known since then they were going to be in the last eight AFC Championship Games, I think I would have felt a little better about the loan. It was a hairy loan, no question about it. But if you believe in people, you do it.

What is Robert Kraft’s net worth? 

According to Forbes, Kraft’s net worth is $13.8 billion. The outlet ranks the New England Patriots as the fourth-most profitable team in the NFL, worth an estimated $9 billion. 

Richest NFL owners

MORE: Revisiting Mike Vrabel’s playing career in NFL

Content Curated Originally From Here