Robert Kraft's Biography

Who is Robert Kraft?

Robert Kraft has become one of the most influential businessmen in American sport. Kraft is the owner of the NFL's New England Patriots and of the Gillette Stadium as well as the head of the soccer team New England Revolution.

Kraft went to Columbia University and then Harvard Business School, but his business career took off after he joined the packaging company owned by his wife, Myra's, father.

Robert Kraft eventually bought the company, Rand-Whitney, in 1972 and in the same year he founded International Forest Products.

Kraft believes that many of his biggest risks have returned his greatest rewards. Counted amongst these delicate risk to reward calculations was his purchase of the stadium where the Patriots played.

It led to him acquiring the team, which he had supported since the 1960s.

In 1994 Kraft gained ownership of pro football's New England Patriots paying a record $172 million.

The Patriots is now a $1 billion concern, and their website proudly declared:

"Since Kraft purchased the Patriots, no NFL team has won as many Super Bowls or conference titles as New England. The Patriots' four conference titles in the Kraft Era of ownership are twice as many as any other NFL team, and since 2001 the Patriots have won three league championships, making them the most successful major sports franchise on the continent."

Robert Kraft was 320th in the Forbes Richest Americans List with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion.

In November 2005 there was speculation that Kraft might try to follow in Malcolm Glazer's footsteps. Glazer had bought Manchester United and it emerged that the Kraft family were the main backers behind the L4 consortium that were expressing an interest in Liverpool FC.

Kraft told BBC Radio Five Live: "Liverpool is a great brand and it's something our family respects a lot. We're always interested in opportunities and growing, so you never know what can happen."

In the end, Liverpool FC was bought by two other American businessmen, George Gillett Jnr and Tom Hicks.

In 2017, Kraft's girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander had a baby. Robert Kraft welcomed the arrival although he stated he was not the father.

In 2019, Robert Kraft was charged with two counts of soliciting a prostitute at a massage parlor.

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