Stan Kroenke

Stan Kroenke
Born Enos Stanley Kroenke
July 29, 1947
Columbia, Missouri
Other names Stan Kroenki, Silent Stan
Education B.A. University of Missouri, 1969
B.S. University of Missouri
MBA. University of Missouri
Occupation St. Louis Rams Majority owner/Chairman, entrepreneur
head and owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises
Founder, Kroenke Group, Columbia, MO
Owner, Pepsi Center arena in Denver, Colorado
Part Owner, Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City
Net worth Increase US$6.3 billion (April 2015)
Political party
 Republican[1]
Religion Christian[2]
Spouse(s) Ann Walton Kroenke, 1973–present
Children 2, son Josh and daughter Whitney Ann

Enos Stanley "Stan" Kroenke (/ˈkrɒŋki/; born July 29, 1947) is an American business entrepreneur . He is the owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which includes the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League and St. Louis Rams of the NFL (the Colorado sports properties are in the name of Josh Kroenke, one of his children, to satisfy NFL ownership restrictions that forbid a team owner from owning teams in other markets). Kroenke is also the largest shareholder of English football club Arsenal.

Kroenke is named after St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famers Enos "Country" Slaughter and Stan "The Man" Musial. His wife, Ann Walton Kroenke, is the daughter of Wal-Mart cofounder Bud Walton. He was estimated to be worth $US 6 billion by Forbes in 2014.[3]

Real estate

Kroenke obtained a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Missouri. He founded the Kroenke Group in 1983, a real estate development firm that has built numerous shopping centers and apartment buildings. Since his marriage to Walton, he has been in the special position to develop many of the plazas near Wal-Mart stores. He is also the chairman of THF Realty, an independent real estate development company that specializes in suburban development. He founded this corporation in St. Louis in 1991.

Kroenke was already a wealthy man in his own right, but became even more so in 1995, when he and Ann inherited a stake in Wal-Mart upon the death of Bud Walton. That stake is now worth more than $6 billion.

Kroenke Sports Enterprises

Kroenke is a well-known sports mogul. As the head and owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, he bought a 40-percent stake in the National Football League's St. Louis Rams after their relocation to Missouri in 1995. In 2000, he became full owner of both the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets and the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche, purchasing the team from Charlie Lyons' Ascent Entertainment Group. In 2002, he partnered with Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and former Bronco quarterback John Elway to become part-owner of the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush. He continued to grow his sports empire in 2004, when he purchased the National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth and Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids from Phil Anschutz.

In 2010, Kroenke exercised his right of first refusal to buy the remaining interest in the St. Louis Rams from the estate of late owner Georgia Frontiere.[4] On August 25, 2010, he became full owner of the Rams by unanimous consent of the NFL. To gain approval from NFL owners, Kroenke agreed to turn over control of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche to his son, Josh, by the end of 2010, and he must give up his majority stake in both teams by December 2014. The NFL does not allow its owners to hold majority control of major league teams in other NFL markets.[5]

Kroenke Sports Enterprise also owns Pepsi Center in Denver, home of the Nuggets and Avalanche, and co-owns Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, home of the Rapids. Both venues were built by his development company. In 2004, Kroenke launched his own competitor to FSN Rocky Mountain (now known as Root Sports Rocky Mountain), Altitude, a new regional sports network which became the official broadcaster for both of Kroenke's teams on launch. Kroenke also established TicketHorse, a ticket company that provides in-house sales for all of his teams.

Kroenke is a somewhat reclusive man who stays out of the limelight. He is popularly known as "Silent Stan" because he almost never gives interviews to the press.[5] He rarely interferes in his teams' day-to-day operations.

Kroenke is the largest shareholder of Premier League football club Arsenal. Arsenal already had a technical link-up with Kroenke's Colorado Rapids when in April 2007 Granada Ventures, a subsidiary of ITV plc, had sold its 9.9-percent stake in Arsenal Holdings plc to Kroenke's KSE UK inc.[6] Kroenke went on to buy further shares in the club, taking his total stake up to 12.19 percent.[7] The club's board initially expressed skepticism that a bid would be in its best interests,[8] but gradually warmed to him as part of counteracting Alisher Usmanov's rival bid for the club.

By June 2008 the board had prepared to let Kroenke take over the club,[9] and on 19 September 2008 it was officially announced that Kroenke had joined the Arsenal board of directors.[10] Kroenke had a beneficial interest in, and controlled voting rights, over 18,594 shares, representing 29.9 percent of the issued shares. Thus, he was nearing the maximum 29.99-percent threshold, beyond which he would be forced to make an offer for all remaining shares.[11]

On 10 April 2011, it was reported that Kroenke was in advanced talks to complete the takeover of Arsenal.[12][13] The following day, it was announced that he increased his shareholding in Arsenal to 62.89 percent by purchasing the stakes of Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, and agreed to make an offer for the rest of the club at £11,750 per share, valuing the club at £731M.[14][15]

Rams Stadium Situation

On January 5th 2015, it was announced that the Kroenke Group was teaming up with Stockbridge Capital Group to build an 80,000 seat NFL stadium and venue (dubbed the City of Champions Revitalization Initiative) in Inglewood, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles.[16] St. Louis officials felt they were not getting fair treatment as Kroenke has (to date) had no talks or discussions with city officials, who have expressed large interest in keeping the team in St. Louis. In a radio interview, Kroenke was labeled as “enemy number one” in his home state due to his uncanny nature and cut-throat business style expressed by his non-negotiations with St. Louis on the Rams stadium situation.[17]

Other businesses

In 2006, Kroenke, in partnership with the money manager Charles Banks, acquired the Napa Valley winery Screaming Eagle. (In April 2009, Banks said he was no longer involved with Screaming Eagle).[18]

References

  1. ↑ Stan Kroenke political contributions
  2. ↑ The London Telegraph: "Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke pays price for low profile" By Simon Briggs October 26, 2012
  3. ↑ Stanley Kroenke - Forbes, Forbes.com. Accessed December 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Arsenal shareholder Stan Kroenke to purchase NFL side St Louis Rams". London: The Daily Telegraph. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Stan Kroenke is new Rams owner". ESPN. 25 August 2010.
  6. ↑ and the general manager of Colorado Avalanche on www.qc-sim.com Kroenke buys stake in Arsenal ESPN Soccernet, April 5, 2007
  7. ↑ "Arsenal Holdings plc - Holding(s) in Company". PLUS Markets Group. 2007-04-12. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
  8. ↑ "Arsenal chairman to meet Kroenke". BBC. 2007-04-28. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  9. ↑ Harris, Nick (2008-06-20). "Arsenal put Kroenke in position to take over club". London: Independent. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  10. ↑ Main (2008-09-19). "Kroenke Welcomed On Board". Goal.com. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
  11. ↑ "Business | Kroenke nears Arsenal threshold". BBC News. 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
  12. ↑ http://sportshaze.com/england/english-premier-league/american-tycoon-in-advanced-talks-with-gunners-2826
  13. ↑ "Exclusive: Kroenke poised for Control of Arsenal FC". Sky News. 2011-04-10. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  14. ↑ "Kroenke mounts Arsenal takeover". BBC News. 2011-04-11.
  15. ↑ http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/recommended-offer-by-kse-for-arsenal-holdings
  16. ↑ Farmer, Sam; Vincent, Roger (5 January 2015). "Owner of St. Louis Rams plans to build NFL stadium in Inglewood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  17. ↑ Roggin, Fred (2015-06-15). "StL Mayor’s Office would welcome the Chargers or Raiders if Rams leave". The Beast 980. Retrieved 2015-06-15. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ↑ Laube, James and Sogg, Daniel, Wine Spectator (March 21, 2006). "Screaming Eagle Sold".

External links