Stan Kroenke is a billionaire American businessman and owner of 2023 NBA Champions Denver Nuggets. His wife, Ann Walton, is heiress to multinational retail giant Walmart. As chairman of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the 75-year-old oversees the largest privately owned sports empire in the world. Stan Kroenke's net worth is $12.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Stan Kroenke's net worth in 2023: $12.9 billion
Kroenke grew up in Mora, Missouri, a tiny unincorporated community of approximately two dozen people that sits 100 miles southeast of Kansas City. His father owned Mora Lumber Company, where Kroenke got his first job sweeping floors and eventually became the company's bookkeeper. He graduated from Cole Camp High School, playing basketball and baseball while also running track.
Kroenke attended nearby University of Missouri for college. While working as a busboy at Mizzou, he secured a $1,500 loan from his father to buy into a local clothing shop to mark the beginning of his entrepreneurial pursuits.
Kroenke's life changed forever in 1971, when he met his future wife on a ski trip in Colorado. He married Ann Walton, daughter of Walmart co-founder Bud Walton, three years later.
How did Stan Kroenke make his money?
Kroenke founded the Kroenke Group, a real estate development firm, in 1983, just less than a decade after marrying into wealthiest family in the world. The Waltons are worth a combined $224.5 billion, according to Investopedia. Many of the Kroenke Group's shopping centers featured Walmarts.
Kroenke founded THF Realty, another real estate development firm, in 1991. THF owns companies in nearly half of the United States and has a continuing relationship with Walmart. The commercial real estate firm is worth over $2 billion.
How much did Stan Kroenke buy the Nuggets for?
Kroenke bought the Nuggets, along with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and Ball Arena (née Pepsi Center) in downtown Denver, for $450 million back in 2000. The acquisition came five years after he bought a 30% stake in the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, facilitating their immediate move to St. Louis (and ultimate relocation back to Los Angeles in 2017).
“I love the NBA; that’s what eventually started me down this path,” he told the Denver Post at the time, per Forbes.
Kroenke founded Kroenke Sports & Entertainment in 1999 as he began negotiations into purchasing the Nuggets.
How much are the Nuggets worth in 2023?
Led by two-time league MVP Nikola Jokic, Denver advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history this 2022-23 season, squaring off against the Miami Heat for basketball's ultimate crown. The team eventually took down the Jimmy Butler-led franchise for the first title in team history.
Entering their historic 2022-23 campaign, the Nuggets were worth $1.93 billion, according to Forbes. That number makes Denver the 22nd-most valuable organization in the NBA, similar to other small-market teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.
After their win, however, the Nuggets' value should only skyrocket.
What else does Stan Kroenke own?
As founder of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Kroenke owns the Nuggets, Avalanche, Arsenal F.C., Aresnal W.F.C., Colorado Rapids and National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth. KSE's collection of assets—including esports teams the Los Angeles Gladiators and Los Angeles Guerrillas, regional broadcaster Altitude Sports and Entertainment and Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, among many others—is valued at $12.75 billion.
Kroenke owns 1.5 million acres in ranch land, including north Texas' historic Waggoner Ranch, America's largest ranch within one fenceline. He is also the owner of Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards and self-storage company StorageMart.
Were you at all stunned by Stan Kroenke's net worth in 2023?
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