Robert Kraft Biography & Net Worth

Robert Kraft Biography & Net Worth

Robert Kraft is an American businessman best known for being the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of The Kraft Group. A huge sports fan, he has invested in several sports holdings, including for the soccer team New England Revolution of the MLS and the football team New England Patriots of the NFL. Bob made news headlines in 1994 when he invested in the New England Patriots by acquiring a team that had won just nineteen games the previous 5 seasons, making people speculate if he had made a big mistake that would end in a failed investment and ultimately, a loss of money. However, he led the Patriots to achieve success and become known as one of the biggest teams in the National Football League history, proving Bob Kraft’s critics wrong.

Intelligent and ambitious, Kraft was 27 years old when he was made the Newton Democratic City Committee’s chairman. He started working with his wife’s father in the ‘Rand-Whitney Group’ before he founded the ‘International Forest Products.’ Thanks to his passion for sports, he gathered enough money after years of engaging in several varying businesses and purchased sports teams like New England Revolution, New England Patriots, and Boston Lobsters. He then founded the umbrella company ‘Kraft Group’ to control his many business holdings.

Born into a Jewish family in Massachusetts, U.S., Robert was groomed to be a rabbi. However, destiny had other things prepared for him as he focused in his studies and eventually turned out a successful businessman. He is also a leading philanthropist, and the records show that he has donated more than $100 million to several philanthropic causes in his lifetime.

Robert Kraft’s Biography & Career

Robert Kenneth Kraft was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States on June 5, 1941 to Jewish parents who wanted him to become a rabbi in the future. His father Harry Kraft was an entrepreneur himself who was mainly involved in the business of dress manufacturing.

For his education, Bob attended Edward Devotion School for his primary education before moving on to Brookline High School. He was a smart student in high school and was also made senior class president. He loved sports very much at that time but could not play as it interfered with his observance of the Sabbath and after-school Hebrew studies. He bagged a scholarship to study at Columbia University where he became fully involved in the school’s freshman and lightweight football teams, playing in the running back and safety positions.

He graduated from Columbia University in 1963 and enrolled into Harvard Business School where from where he graduated with his degree in 1965.

When he was 27 years old, Bob Kraft was named the chairman of the Newton Democratic City Committee, and he did not fail to live up to expectations. He then started working for the Rand-Whitney Group, and eventually got full control of the company in 1968. Four years later, he created International Forest Products, a venture which dealt with paper commodities. In less than five years his company was already a leader in imports and exports in the United States.

Kraft invested heavily in New England Television Corp., and became the director of New England Television Corp.’s board in 1983. He became a co-owner of the Boston Lobsters in 1974, but the team later folded. Undeterred by the failure of his first investment in a sports team, he made an attempt to acquire the New England Patriots and also made bids for the Boston Red Sox as well as the Boston Celtics. He then purchased the horse track Foxboro Raceway in 1985.

In 1994, he bought the New England Patriots, and later financed for construction of the Gillette Stadium in 2002. He also owns the football team New England Revolution. Robert Kraft founded the Kraft Group in 1998 to control all his companies.

Awards & Achievements

Kraft has received a number of honorary degrees from different universities and colleges in North America. His list of honors and medals include:

• Columbia University Alexander Hamilton Medal (2004)
• Theodore Roosevelt Award (2006)
• George S. Halas Courage Award (2012)
• Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence Award (2013)
• Columbia University John Jay Award (1987)
• Six-time Super Bowl champion as owner of the New England Patriots
• Genesis Prize (2019)
• Induction into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2011)
• Honorary doctorate in humane letters from Yeshiva University (2015)

Robert Kraft was awarded the highest honor of the NCAA when he was presented with the Theodore Roosevelt Award. In 2012, he became the first National Football team owner in the 43-year history of the accolade to be selected for a George Halas Award by the Professional Football Writers of America. In his honor, a football field was named the “Robert Kraft Field” at Columbia University.

Personal Life & Family

While still a student of Columbia University, Bob Kraft met Myra Nathalie and fell in love with her. In 1963, the pair tied the knot, and went to enjoy a peaceful and happy marriage until Myra passed away in 2011 following ovarian cancer. Together, they had four children, including Joshua, Jonathan, David and Daniel.

His business aside, Robert Kraft is also a known philanthropist. He has donated a huge part of his fortune towards various causes including sports, health care, education, and many more. He has also supported many universities in the United States aside funding Brandeis University.

Kraft’s four sons are also deeply involved in his businesses and hold significant positions in his group of companies which has now become one of the biggest in America.

Robert Kraft Net Worth

Considered one of the wealthiest and most influential business leaders in the world, Robert Kraft net worth is approximately $7 billion. He has been able to lay hands on such a mammoth fortune from his company, The Kraft Group, which currently controls several companies which he also owns. His company controls assets from different fields including real estate, paper and packaging, sports, and entertainment.

Kraft is a proud owner of two sports teams: the soccer team New England Revolution of the MLS and the football team New England Patriots of the NFL. He is the owner of the Boston Uprising and also the founder of International Forest Products. These are the main ventures that have given him his fortune and included him on the list of the world’s billionaires.