Robert Kraft owns the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution and is worth $2.3 billion. He founded The Kraft Group back in 1998, a company that privately owns different companies across a bunch of different fields of business. Kraft’s company built Gillette Stadium for $325 million along with the $350 million lifestyle and entertainment center, Patriot Place. He’s a brilliant businessman, but what else is there to Kraft aside from owning the Patriots? Here are five things you didn’t know about Robert Kraft.
5. His wife passed away in 2011
Unfortunately, Kraft’s wife, Myra Nathalie Hiatt lost a courageous battle with cancer back in 2011 at the age of 68. That season all of the Patriots players wore a patch on their jerseys bearing her initials to honor their owner’s wife. Sometime in 2012 Kraft, who is now 73, began dating dancer and actress Ricki Noel Lander, who is around 40 years younger than him.
4. He attended Columbia and Harvard
Kraft graduated high school and was accepted to Columbia University (located in New York) on a scholarship. After receiving his degree from there in 1963 he went on to earn his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1965. During his time at Columbia he even played on the lightweight football team.
3. He got his start in the paper industry
Kraft started his business career by joining his father-in-law’s packaging company and eventually founded Forest Products which trades physical paper products. The two companies eventually combined to become the largest privately held paper and packaging company in the United States and Forest Products International is now one of the top 100 import and export companies.
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2. He purchased the Patriots for $175 million
As I mentioned before, Kraft has a total net worth of $2.3 billion, but he spent $175 million back in 1994. The team was about to be moved to St. Louis by former owner James Orthwein but Kraft refused to let him buyout the rest of the team’s lease at Foxboro Stadium, and instead made Orthwein an offer he couldn’t refuse. As a result, fans ended up purchasing a record of season tickets and sold out nearly every game because they were glad the team was staying in New England.
1. One of his Super Bowl rings is currently on display in Russia
Back in 2005 it was reported that Vladamir Putin had taken one of Kraft’s Super Bowl rings, but Kraft had supposedly said he gave it to Putin as a gift out of “respect and admiration”. He later claimed these statements to be false and that the government pressured him into offering one of his rings, which is now on display with other state gifts in the Kremlin.
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