Yahoo Autos The 25 Richest NFL Team Owners
For the megarich, ownership of a sports franchise is the ultimate trophy — and an NFL team is the biggest cap feather of them all. Some of the richest NFL team owners inherited their franchises as part of massive hand-me-down fortunes.
Check It Out: 27 Richest No. 1 NFL Draft Picks
Read More: Which NFL Hall of Famer Has the Highest Net Worth?
Other owners bought their teams after amassing enormous wealth on their own. In a few rare cases, the family fortune is actually based on ownership of the team. Team owners are ranked from least to most wealth, primarily based on data from Forbes.
Discover: 13 NFL Players Who Lost Millions
All the owners on this list are rich — sometimes even richer than the teams they own.
Last updated: Sept. 16, 2021
Pat Bowlen Trust: $1 Billion Net Worth
Team: Denver Broncos
Owner since: 1984
How much they purchased the team for: $470 million
How much the team is worth: $3.2 billion
Iconic Broncos owner Pat Bowlen was a successful lawyer and real estate developer before he bought the Broncos in 1984. During his 35-year tenure, Denver won 60% of its games, a winning percentage topped only by the Patriots. When Bowlen died at the age of 75 in June 2019, Celebrity Net Worth estimated his net worth at $1 billion. The Broncos are held in a trust in his name until new ownership is decided, with a court case scheduled for July 2021.
Related: The Biggest Bargain on Every NFL Roster
Glazer Family: $1 Billion Net Worth
Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Owner since: 2014
How much they purchased the team for: Inherited
How much the team is worth: $2.3 billion
Malcolm Glazer was the patriarch of the Glazer family, and when he died in 2014, he left his descendants an empire built on the First Allied Corporation, which includes millions of square feet of retail shopping space. He also willed them the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which he bought in 1995 for $192 million. Bryan Glazer, the son of Malcolm, is estimated to be worth $1 billion.
Check Out the Champs: These Are the Most Incredible Active Sellout Streaks in Sports
Dean Spanos: $1 Billion Net Worth
Team: Los Angeles Chargers
Owner since: 2018
How much they purchased the team for: Inherited
How much the team is worth: $2.6 billion
Dean Spanos took over full ownership of the Chargers in 2018 when his father, Alex Spanos, passed away. Alex Spanos purchased majority interest in the Chargers in 1984 for $72 million. Spanos drew heavy criticism and scorn for moving the franchise from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2017.
It's a Lot: How Much Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Other QBs Make Per Career TD Thrown
William Clay Ford Family: $1 Billion Net Worth
Team: Detroit Lions
Owner since: 1964
How much they purchased the team for: $4.5 million
How much the team is worth: $2.1 billion
William Clay Ford purchased a minority stake in the franchise in 1961, and he bought out the remaining minority owners on Nov. 22, 1963 (the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated). The sale was made official in 1964, and Ford remained the team's only owner until he passed away in 2014, when his wife, Martha Firestone Ford, assumed ownership. She passed principal ownership to her daughter, Sheila Ford Hamp, in 2020.
Money Maker: The Highest-Paid Player on Every NFL Team
Steve Tisch: $1.2 Billion Net Worth
Team: New York Giants
Owner since: 2005
How much they purchased the team for: Inherited
How much the team is worth: $4.3 billion
Steve Tisch, whose net worth is estimated at $1.2 billion, owns half of the New York Giants — John Mara, who just missed the cut to appear in this list, owns the other half. In 2005, he took over a 50% stake in the Giants, which his father, Bob Tisch, purchased for $75 million in 1991 — the entire team sold for $150 million.
The elder Tisch co-founded the financial conglomerate Loews Corp. in 1946, and when he died in 2005, Steve Tish became half-owner of the No. 3 most valuable team in the NFL. His mother Joan was the largest Loews shareholder, and when she died in 2017, Steve Tisch inherited her fortune.
Zygmunt Wilf: $1.3 Billion Net Worth
Team: Minnesota Vikings
Owner since: 2005
How much they purchased the team for: $600 million
How much the team is worth: $2.95 billion
Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf is a German immigrant and the son of Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivors. His father and uncle formed a real estate company, which Hunt joined after working as a lawyer. After assuming control of the firm, he dramatically expanded the company’s portfolio, which now includes tens of thousands of apartments and vast commercial holdings. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he has a fortune of $1.3 billion.
Virginia Halas McCaskey and Family: $1.3 Billion Net Worth
Team: Chicago Bears
Owner since: 1920
How much they purchased the team for: $100
How much the team is worth: $3.5 billion
Few teams have a longer and prouder lineage than the Chicago Bears, whose 1,000-game history began in 1920 — the franchise is one of only two remaining charter members of the National Football League. That year, George Halas bought the team for $100 — three years before his daughter Virginia was born in 1923. The oldest owner in the NFL, Virginia Halas McCaskey — whose net worth Forbes estimated at $1.3 billion in 2018 — is among the only owners whose family fortune comes directly from owning a team, as opposed to buying a team after becoming independently wealthy.
The Hunt Family: $2 Billion Net Worth
Team: Kansas City Chiefs
Owner since: 1974
How much they purchased the team for: Inherited
How much the team is worth: $2.5 billion
The Hunt family is descended from American oil royalty. Their fortune can be traced to legendary wildcatter H.L. Hunt, who was once the richest man in the world and inspired the character J.R. Ewing on the TV show “Dallas." He had 15 children, and his many descendants control a vast network of energy companies, resorts, and real estate and sports franchises, including the Kansas City Chiefs, which H.L. Hunt purchased for $25,000 in 1960. Hunt died in 1974. Hunt’s late son Lamar is believed to have named the Super Bowl. Clark Hunt, who now runs the Chiefs, is worth $2 billion, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com.
Dan Snyder: $2.3 Billion Net Worth
Team: Washington Football Team
Owner since: 1999
How much they purchased the team for: $750 million
How much the team is worth: $3.5 billion
Dan Snyder made his money through his marketing firm Snyder Communications, which he formed after dropping out of college. He took the company public in 1996 and then sold it to a French company in 2000 — the year after he bought the franchise then known as the Redskins — for $2.1 billion. The team is currently searching for a new name and is known as the Washington Football Team. Today, Snyder’s net worth today is estimated at $2.3 billion.
See: How Rich are Michael Jordan, Alex Rodriguez And 13 More Incredibly Wealthy Retired Athletes?
Jeffrey Lurie: $2 Billion Net Worth
Team: Philadelphia Eagles
Owner since: 1994
How much they purchased the team for: $1.85 billion
How much the team is worth: $3.4 billion
Jeffrey Lurie, worth $2 billion, has owned the Eagles for more than a quarter-century. He took out a loan to buy the team, but he earned his fortune in the movie and media business. He became an executive in the General Cinema Corporation, founded by his grandfather in 1983, and later founded Chestnut Hill Productions.
Jimmy and Dee Haslam: $4 Billion Net Worth
Team: Cleveland Browns
Owner since: 2012
How much they purchased the team for: $987 million
How much the team is worth: $2.4 billion
In 1958, Jim Haslam bought a single gas station for $6,000. In the ensuing decades, he turned that into the truck stop empire that is Pilot Flying J, which has 750 locations in 44 states and did $29 billion in revenue in 2018. His son Jimmy, along with Jimmy's wife, Dee, bought the Browns in 2012. Jimmy had served on the Pilot board of directors since he was a college student. Jim Haslam’s other son became the governor of Tennessee. Jimmy and Dee Haslam are worth $4 billion.
