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Jonathan Kraft

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Jonathan Kraft
Kraft in 2023
Born
Jonathan Ashford Kraft

(1964-03-04) March 4, 1964 (age 60)
Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materWilliams College (BA)
Harvard University (MBA)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forPresident of The Kraft Group
President of the New England Patriots
SpousePatricia Lipoma
Children3
Parent(s)Robert Kraft
Myra Hiatt
RelativesDaniel Kraft (brother)
Josh Kraft (brother)
Jacob Hiatt (grandfather)
American football career
New England Patriots
Position:President
Career history
As an executive:
Career highlights and awards

Jonathan Ashford Kraft (born March 4, 1964) is an American businessman. He is president of The Kraft Group, the holding company of the Kraft family's business interests. He is also the president of the New England Patriots and investor-operator of the New England Revolution.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Kraft was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, to a Jewish family, one of four children of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his late wife Myra Kraft.[1][2] Robert Kraft is worth an estimated $4.8 billion, according to Forbes and ranked as 108th richest person in 2015.[3] Kraft attended the Belmont Hill School for high school. In 1986, Kraft graduated from Williams College with a bachelor's degree in history. He served on Williams' board of trustees from 2003 until 2015.[4] After working as a consultant at Bain & Company for two years, Kraft earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990.[5]

Professional career

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New England Patriots

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In 1994, Kraft helped his family create a plan to purchase the New England Patriots.[6] Since his family's purchase of the team,[7] Kraft has held the titles of vice president,[8] vice chairman[9] and president.[10]

Role with the NFL

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Within the National Football League, Kraft has served on multiple committees, including the Digital Media and Business Ventures committees.[11] In March 2006, when the National Football League Players Association and the NFL were deadlocked in contract negotiations, Kraft helped design a revenue sharing plan that was used for that version of the collective bargaining agreement.[12]

New England Revolution

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Kraft (left) speaks with his father at a 2018 New England Revolution game

In 1995, Major League Soccer was started. One of the inaugural teams in the league was the Revolution. Kraft has been the co-owner/investor of the Revolution, along with his father, since its inception.[13] In 2002, the Revolution played in their first final against the Galaxy in the MLS Cup in front of a record crowd of more than 61,000.[14] The final was held at Gillette Stadium, previously named CMGI Field, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.[14] The match had a record crowd and the Revolution lost.[15] They made four more MLS Cup appearances in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014.[16]

Other soccer involvements

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Kraft was also an owner/investor of the San Jose Earthquakes from 1999 to 2000 when the Kraft Group owned the team.[17] He has been attempting to build a Boston area soccer specific stadium unsuccessfully since 2006.[17]

Massachusetts General Hospital

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Kraft has served on the board of trustees of Massachusetts General Hospital since 2010 and was named chair in 2019 after the departure of Cathy Minehan.[18]

COVID-19 pandemic

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The Patriots' team airplane delivering N95 masks supplies in April 2020

In March 2020, Kraft and his father offered the use of the Patriots team airplane to Massachusetts to deliver more than a million N95 masks from Shenzhen, China for use by medical professionals to help mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Some of the supplies landed in Boston on April 2, 2020, after several weeks of preparation.[19]

Personal life

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In 1995, Kraft married Patricia Lipoma in a Jewish ceremony at the Chestnut Hill home of his parents.[20][21] She is a convert to Judaism.[21] He has three children, two sons and a daughter.[6][20]

Awards and honors

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  • Six-time Super Bowl champion – as an executive with the New England Patriots

In 2023, Boston magazine ranked Kraft and his brothers Daniel and Josh at number 11 on its annual list of the "most influential Bostonians", grouping these three Kraft brothers as a single entity.[22] The following year, the magazine individually recognized on the list at #10 (with his brother Josh also being recognized at #68).[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b Jspace Staf (February 4, 2012). "Jewish Owners Face Off in Super Bowl XLVI". Jspace. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Andrew Gershman (January 23, 2012). "Bob Kraft: New England Patriots' Jewish owner". Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  3. ^ "Robert Kraft". Forbes. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  4. ^ "Trustees Emeriti". Williams. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  5. ^ "HighPoint Capital Team Members". HighPoint Capital. Retrieved June 3, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Hohler, Bob. "Jonathan Kraft has been stepping out of his father's shadow - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Haden, Jeff. "From $227 Million to $3.8 Billion: The Unlikely Story of How Robert Kraft Bought the New England Patriots". Inc.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Halbfinger, David M. (November 29, 1998). "A Fan's Fan, but an Owner First; Decision on Patriots Put Economics Ahead of Emotions (Published 1998)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  9. ^ "Jonathan Kraft". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  10. ^ "'The Best of Us': Patriots Fly 76 Health Care Workers to Super Bowl". NBC Boston. February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  11. ^ "Robert Kraft expected to appear at the NFL owners meetings this week | Boston.com". www.boston.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  12. ^ Myers, Gary (March 9, 2006). "THAT'S AN NFL RE-CAP". courant.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  13. ^ Thomas, Jim (March 28, 2017). "NFL's J. Kraft, also head of MLS expansion committee, bullish on St. Louis soccer". STLtoday.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "A Beaten Path?". Los Angeles Times. October 18, 2002. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  15. ^ "USATODAY.com - Finally Los Angeles claims MLS title". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  16. ^ Ghosh, Souparno. "New England Revolution reach the MLS Cup final". The Tech. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Alexander, Kevin (March 25, 2014). "The Krafts Are the Worst Owners in the League".
  18. ^ "Massachusetts General Hospital taps Jonathan Kraft as board of trustees chair". Becker's Hospital Review. September 4, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  19. ^ "A Million N95 Masks Are Coming From China—on Board the New England Patriots' Plane". The Wall Street Journal. April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Damiano, Mike (September 3, 2019). "Can Jonathan Kraft Keep the Patriots' Reign Alive?".
  21. ^ a b Bickelhaupt, Susan; O'Brien, Ellen (June 20, 1995). "A Patriotic wedding". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015.
  22. ^ "The 150 Most Influential Bostonians of 2023". Boston Magazine. April 18, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  23. ^ "The 150 Most Influential Bostonians in 2024". Boston Magazine. April 22, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
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