Robert Kraft is a billionaire American businessman and the owner of The Kraft Group. He is a well-known figure in sports in North America and has mainly been active in the National Football League. Kraft was among the most critical statistics in transitioning American football into a global phenomenon, with over $6 billion earned through his investments in various NFL franchises.
In addition to his professional career as an owner, he has served as chairman for several non-profit organizations, including the Children’s Craniofacial Association, Junior Achievement, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Foundation, and Stony Brook University Foundation, among others.
Robert Kraft earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Rochester in 1964 before moving on to Columbia Business School, where he earned his Master of Business Administration degree a year later.
In 1968, while working as an assistant to the National Football League commissioner Pete Rozelle, Kraft was recruited to work for NFL Properties. There, he headed up many different projects, including the first marketing materials for Super Bowl I and II. He was also in charge of offering sponsorship opportunities for the NFL’s three most prestigious events, including The Pro Bowl, The Super Bowl, and the NFL Draft. Kraft and other top executives even found a novel way to market its products: through television commercials.
Robert Kraft rose through the ranks since joining the NFL, eventually becoming executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Properties. He also was in charge of sales and marketing for the National Football League. In addition, Kraft served as president of Jefferson Pilot Sports until 1977 before becoming senior vice president of media relations for the New England Patriots from 1979 to 1986. Since then, he has worked on some personal projects initially backed by his NFL wealth, including The Kraft Group and NBC Sports. Through the latter, he acquired naming rights to the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.
Robert Kraft spent the majority of his career on Wall Street and its rise in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a member of the New York Stock Exchange IPO list in 1986 and is currently on a shortlist for another one within a few years. He eventually formed The Kraft Group, which helped make him one of North America’s wealthiest men; however, after Kraft lost $30 million in 1994, he was forced to sell his holdings to an investment group to raise cash for NFL Properties. See this article for additional information.
Follow his twitter page on https://twitter.com/robertkraft0?lang=en