Every Tuesday SportsOlogy examines the origins of NBA owners' wealth in a feature called How He Got Rich. To read other installments, click here.
Sure, Stan Kroenke may seem like a fun-loving, jet-setting billionaire with a passion for sports and a net worth of $3.2 billion, but really he's EXACTLY THAT. Kroenke owns the Denver Nuggets, who are the 20th most valuable franchise in the NBA at $316 million, but he didn't just fall into enough money to buy a professional sports franchise. He grew it on trees. But seriously, how did he get rich?
While he was a student at the University of Missouri, Stan Kroenke borrowed money from his father to become a partner in a clothing store. He eventually sold the store for a profit, and his business career skyrocketed from there.
After working for retail developer Raul Walters, Kroenke went on to found the Kroenke Group, a real estate development firm, in 1983. Donald Sterling has shown us how lucrative real estate investment can be, and it would be amazing if everyone could scare up enough money to buy a whole bunch of land and develop it. But the Kroenke Group was successful, and it allowed Stan to earn enough money to create THF Realty in 1991.
THF Realty manages and develops commercial shopping centers, most of which are anchored by Wal-Mart franchises. Have you heard of Wal-Mart? Stan Kroenke has; in fact, he's intimately familiar with the corporation. Kroenke married Ann Walton, the niece of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, in 1974. Ann was a nursing student at the University of Missouri during Kroenke's time there, and their marriage has paid off handsomely.
Kroenke's affiliation with Wal-Mart helped him become wealthy enough to enter into the sports ownership universe, as he's used the connection to anchor many of his real estate projects with Wal-Mart franchises. In 1995, Kroenke became a minority owner of the St. Louis Rams thanks to another business venture, Kroenke Sports Enterprises. He went on to purchase the Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche in 2000, and he now owns Premier League soccer club Arsenal. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. Kroenke also owns MLS's Colorado Rapids, National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth and the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush. This guy owns a TON of sports teams, and even though he had to place the Nuggets and the Avalanche under his son's control nominally in order to comply with NFL ownership rules, he still operates as the head honcho of the franchises.
In case you were worried that Stan Kroenke owns too many businesses, you'll be reassured by the fact that he also owns, Douglas Lake Ranch, Canada's biggest cattle ranch (what?) and two wineries. Stan Kroenke is seriously rich.
There you have it: Denver Nuggets owner Stanley Kroenke is like a rolling snowball of wealth. He began by making a profit on a clothes company, then he got seriously rich thanks to real estate development and his association with Wal-Mart, which has its own evil demons. Pay attention to Mr. Kroenke, because he is a powerful force in sports.
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