Robert Kraft, an American businessman born on June 5, 1941, in Brookline, Massachusetts, serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Kraft Group. The Kraft Group has holdings in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development, and a private equity portfolio.
Nonetheless, Robert Kraft’s most well-known investments are the New England Patriots of the National Football League and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer, along with their home venue Gillette Stadium.
Education Background
After growing up in Brookline, Massachusetts, Kraft enrolled and graduated from Brookline High School in 1959. He attended Columbia University on scholarship and graduated in 1963. In 1965, he earned his Master of Business Administration from Harvard. At Columbia, Kraft was a member of the lightweight football squad.
Personal Life
Robert Kraft is married to Myra Kraft, a 1964 graduate of Brandeis University and the daughter of the late Worcester, Massachusetts, benefactor Jacob Hiatt. Before the establishment of the Patriots in 1960, Kraft was a lifelong New York Giants supporter.
Career and His Achievements
He got his start in the workforce with Hiatt’s packaging company, the Rand-Whitney Group, which was headquartered in Worcester. He is still the chairman of this firm. As a commodity paper trader, he started International Forest Products in 1972. As of 2005, International Forest Products ranked No. 45 on the Journal of Commerce’s top 100 exporters and importers from the United States.
WNEV-TV is a Boston CBS station that Kraft assisted a minority business group in purchasing in 1986. (now NBC affiliate WHDH-TV). He bought multiple radio stations in Boston and continued his entertainment industry investments. The private equity firm he is a part of backed Scott Sanders’ “Scott Sanders Productions,” a media production company.
Owning The Patriots
He bought the land next to the team’s pitch in 1985. This resulted in him investing in the team’s stadium, and years later, he bought the team.
Giving Back To the Community
Robert Kraft and his wife, Myra, are generous benefactors who have donated tens of millions of dollars to organizations focusing on issues affecting children and women and youth sports. See this article on CrunchBase, to learn more.
More about Kraft on https://www.crunchbase.com/person/robert-kraft
