| Robert Kraft | |
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| Born | Robert Kenneth Kraft June 5, 1941 Brookline, Massachusetts, United States |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Known for | Principal Owner of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group |
| Net worth |  US $ 5.2 billion (September 2016) |
| Spouse(s) | Myra Kraft (1963–2011, her death) |
| Children | 4 (including Jonathan) |
Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development and a private equity portfolio. His sports holdings include the National Football League’s New England Patriots, Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution, and the stadium in which both teams play, Gillette Stadium.
Early life
Kraft was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father, Harry Kraft, a dress manufacturer in Boston’s Chinatown, was a respected Jewish lay leader at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline and wanted his son to become a rabbi. The Krafts were an observant Orthodox Jewish family. Robert grew up in Brookline, where he attended the Edward Devotion School and in 1959, he graduated from Brookline High School, where he was senior class president. During high school, Kraft was unable to participate in most sports because it interfered with his after-school Hebrew studies and observance of the Sabbath.
Kraft attended Columbia University, where he served as class president. While at Columbia, Kraft joined Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity and played running back and safety on the school’s freshman and lightweight football teams. On February 2, 1962, Kraft met Myra Hiatt at a delicatessen in Boston’s Back Bay. They married in June 1963. That same year, Kraft graduated from Columbia, and in 1965, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
At the age of 27, Kraft was elected chairman of the Newton Democratic City Committee. He considered running against Massachusetts’s 3rd congressional district Representative Philip J. Philbin in 1970, but chose not to, citing the loss of privacy and strain on his family entering politics would have caused. He was further discouraged from entering politics by the suicide of his friend, State Representative H. James Shea, Jr.
Robert Kraft net worth: Robert Kraft is a Massachusetts-born businessman who has a net worth of $6.2 billion dollars. Robert Kraft made his fortune as Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group, which holds assets in everything from paper to real estate. He is most widely known as the primary holder of the New England Patriots, the New England Revolution, and Gillette Stadium. Born Robert K. Kraft on June 5, 1941, in Brookline, Massachusetts, US, he is the Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development and a private equity portfolio. The Columbia University and Harvard Business School graduate started his career at the Rand-Whitney Group, a Worcester-based packaging company owned by his father-in-law Jacob Hiatt. In 1972, he set up International Forest Products, a trader of physical paper commodities. Rand-Whitney Group and International Forest Products make up together the largest privately held paper and packaging companies in the United States. 1986 saw Kraft assisting a minority business group acquire WNEV-TV, a CBS affiliate. He went on with his investments in the world of entertainment by buying several Boston radio stations. Thus, he became a member of a private equity group that funded film, theater, and television producer Scott Sanders’ company, “Scott Sanders Productions”. Eventually, he formed his Kraft Group paper business in 1998, which operates in 90 countries and has sales over $2 billion. Meanwhile, he bought New England Patriots for $172 million in 1995, a football club which is now worth more than $2.6 billion. His other sports holdings include the Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution and Gillette Stadium.
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