Brad Kelley Biography & Net Worth

American businessman and investor Brad Kelley is currently considered the fourth-largest landowner in the United States of America. Forbes magazine reports that he owns a net worth of more than $2 billion, and his track records show that he has amassed his wealth by investing in several business ventures, ranging from real estate to the primary source of his fortune which was his former cigarette and tobacco company. Born in 1956 in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Brad is currently married to Susan Kelley, the mother of his three children. The family currently lives in Wyoming, Franklin, and Tennessee, where the businessman maintains many properties. After spending a short time at Western Kentucky University, he abandoned his education to pursue his business interests. Mr. Brad Kelley currently holds interests in Vaon Tech, the Kelley Conservation Foundation, and NC2 Media. He established his cigarette company, Commonwealth Brands in 1991. However, he sold the company several years later to Houchens Industries for $1 billion. Though his business is based on cigarettes and tobacco, the businessman himself was never a smoker. He currently owns approximately 1.7 million acres of ranching land in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida.

Early Life

He was born Brad Maurice Kelley in 1956 in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States.

Brad experienced his childhood in Simpson County, Kentucky. He attended Franklin-Simpson High School in Franklin, Kentucky, where he received the Kentucky high school conservationist of the year award after serving as a secretary for the Future Farmers of America.

He bought his first piece of land located near his childhood home when he was 17 years old. At age 20, he purchased his first warehouse at age 20. He joined Western Kentucky University for his tertiary education, but as he couldn’t take his mind of business, he abandoned his studies to pursue business interests.

Professional Life

Kelley, who was raised on a farm that included tobacco, had his early business ventures related to farms and connected ventures. There were many vacant warehouses in Kentucky at that time due to the declining production of tobacco in the 1980s. He capitalized on the opportunity that presented itself and started buying these warehouses which he converted to other uses, and also leased out. This interest later evolved into manufacturing, and in 1991, his Commonwealth Brands tobacco company was born. Headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, his company manufactured low-cost cigarettes until it was sold in 2001 to Houchens Industries.

In May 2012, this dedicated entrepreneur became the operator of the Calumet Farm in Lexington. Before that time, he was already involved in horse racing operations and Thoroughbred breeding. He was formerly a board member and the largest shareholder of Churchill Downs. In 2013, his colt Oxbow won the Preakness Stakes.

Mr. Brad Kelley owns more than 1.7 million acres of ranching land in Florida, Texas, and New Mexico, enough to make him eligible to be listed as the fourth-largest private landowner in America.

Kelly’s NC2 Media completed the acquisition of Lonely Planet in March 2013. Having printed over 100 million guidebooks, Lonely Planet is recognized as the world’s most successful guidebook publisher. It has also published digital content, magazines, and other travel services. In December 2020, Kelly sold Lonely Planet to Red Ventures.

Personal Life

Mr. Brad Kelley is married with three children. It is almost impossible to find him giving interviews or speaking to the public. Despite earning his first billion from the tobacco and cigar business, this man has revealed that he dislikes smoking. He also does not use email. His family lives in Wyoming, Franklin, and Tennessee, where he maintains many properties.

He is active in the conservation movement and supports many wildlife and environmental conservation interests, including Florida’s Center for Conservation of Tropical Ungulates Punta Gorda, which supports many animal species, including wild cattle, antelope, rhinoceros, and tapir.

Brad Kelley Net Worth

Brad Kelley’s net worth is $2.1 billion dollars. Despite the fact that he never completed college because he was always business inclined and dropped out four times from the University of Kentucky, he is, today, one of the wealthiest people around him. After selling his first-ever business, Commonwealth Brands, for the sum of $1 billion, he moved into other ventures such as horse racing and landholding. He currently owns 71 percent of Kentucky Downs and a small portion of Churchill Downs. He also owns developments and large portions of land in different parts of the United States, not forgetting his interests in Vaon Tech, the Kelley Conservation Foundation, and NC2 Media, all of which continue to add significant monetary value to the businessman.