Carl Pohlad Net Worth & Biography

Carl Pohlad was an American financier and one of the richest businessmen in America. A son of a railroad brakeman, he grew up to find his place in the business industry and went on to own the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise from 1984 until his death in 2009 at the age of 93. Until his acquisition of the Twins in 1984, Mr. Carl had maintained a low profile while building a fortune for himself in real estate, airlines, banking, financial services, and soft-drink bottling. As at the time he passed, Carl Pohlad’s net worth of $3 billion ranked him as the 102nd wealthiest American according to Forbes magazine.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Carl Ray Pohlad in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 23, 1915 to parents of Slovak descent, Michael Pohlad and Mary M.

Carl spent his childhood days in West Des Moines, Iowa, where he attended Valley High School in West Des Moines, completing his studies in 1934. He then attended Compton Junior College in Southern California where he played football for the short time he spent there. Bing Crosby saw him play in the school’s football team and recruited him to play for Gonzaga University in Washington. Pohlad then attended Gonzaga but eventually dropped out during his senior year.

Professional Life: Businesses, Investments

He was already a very wealthy businessman when he paid $44 million to Calvin Griffith and his partners to take over the Minnesota Twins. At the time, the deal was the second-highest price paid for a major league team. The Twins flourished after the sale as it went on to win the World Series in 1987 and again in 1991. Frustrated by losses for 8 consecutive years in addition to disagreement by the legislature to build a new stadium, Mr. Pohlad almost sold the Twins baseball team to a North Carolina businessman in 1997. The deal would have seen the team move to Charlotte.

Then, in 2001, Mr. Pohlad committed what fans of the Minnesota Twins saw as the ultimate act of betrayal. He considered folding the team as part of a plan by the Major League Baseball (MLB) to contract the American and National Leagues. Under the plan, Pohlad would have reportedly received around $125 million to $200 million in compensation, far more than his team was worth in the open market. To make matters worse, it was alleged that he had lent 3 million dollars to the Milwaukee Brewers. After Baseball dropped its offer contraction plan, Mr. Pohlad remained unrepentant.

The Twins’ fortunes soon turned around afterward, though, as a new baseball agreement and revenue-sharing plan helped them return to its winning ways. They made the playoffs in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006. The Minnesota state legislature agreed to build a new stadium in 2006, with Mr. Pohlad contributing 25 percent of the cost which totaled at $520 million.

One of eight children of his parents, Pohlad was always a deal maker from an early age. He earned money as a child by organizing boys to work for local farmers. While on a football scholarship at Gonzaga University, he started a used-car business and used the profits he realized in investing in a fledgling finance company in Dubuque, Iowa.

A savvy investor, Carl Pohlad made his first big investment in 1949, when he purchased Marquette Bank in Minneapolis. He went on to acquire a string of small financial institutions in Minnesota and started diversifying in the 1960s by purchasing the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas and the Trans-Texas Airways which he renamed Texas International before selling it to the businessman and maverick investor Frank A. Lorenzo in 1972. Pohlad was one of the largest shareholders of Lorenzo’s subsequent ventures, which included takeovers of Eastern and Continental Airlines. He combined with Irwin L. Jacobs a takeover artist and flamboyant leveraged-buyout specialist in the 1970s and 1980s, and they made a number of profitable investments in national corporations. In the late 1980s, the two men branched into professional football, purchasing and then selling a major stake in the Minnesota Vikings.

Carl continued to operate locally as well. He bought several small bottling companies, which he later sold to the Pepsi Company for close to $600 million. In the early 1990s, he sold Marquette Bank to United States Bancorp, and in 2001, he sold nearly all his Marquette Financial Companies to Wells Fargo. At the time, his Marquette Financial Company was one of the biggest privately held banking organizations in the United States, and he received $5.6 billion from Wells Fargo for the sales.

Personal Life: Family, Private Interests

Carl Pohlad served in the Army in Europe during the Second World War. He was drafted into the war and served from 1943 to 1946. During his service, he spent time fighting in France, Austria, and Germany. At the end of his service, he received the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal.

He returned to Iowa after the war and married Mary Eloise O’Rourke Pohlad. He later moved to Edina, Minnesota. He died in 2009, leaving behind his sons William, Robert, and James, and several grandchildren. His wife of 56 years, Eloise, passed away in 2003. His three sons serve as Executive Board Members of the Minnesota Twins.

Carl Pohlad Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

Mr. Carl Pohlad the investor and MLB franchise owner had a net worth of 3 billion dollars at the time of his passing.

Pohlad, who saw action in Europe during the Second World War, started his businesses during the Great Depression when he started foreclosing on farms in the Midwest. He then branched into investing in several local banks, eventually establishing his own banking enterprise, the Marquette Bank which he sold to Wells Fargo for over 5 billion dollars. One of his major sources of income was his ownership of the Minnesota Twins of the Major League Baseball which he purchased in the 1980s. He was a minority owner of the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings for about a decade.