Robert Kraft

Raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, Kraft graduated from Columbia in 1963 and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School.⁠[1]

Kraft started a packaging operation in 1968 and founded International Forest Products in 1972, establishing the basis for his family’s group.⁠[1]

International Forest Products began by exporting U.S.-made containerboard. It later broadened its trading activities to market pulp, recovered fiber, printing and writing papers, paperboard, logs and lumber.⁠[2]

At its fiftieth anniversary in 2022, IFP reported business in more than 100 countries, with Daniel Kraft serving as president and CEO. The operation founded by Robert and managed across two generations remained part of the Kraft Group’s industrial business.⁠[2]

Kraft secured an option on land around the stadium in 1985, bought the stadium in 1988 and acquired the Patriots for about $172 million on January 21, 1994, rejecting a $75 million offer to release the team from its lease.⁠[3]

Kraft founded the New England RevolutionNew England RevolutionNew England Revolution are a founding Major League Soccer club that began playing in 1996. Operated by the Kraft family, the club plays at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.Open the full entry on June 6, 1995, and the club participated in MLSMLSMajor League Soccer (MLS) is a top-flight professional soccer league comprising clubs in the United States and Canada. Play began in 1996, and the league has 30 clubs divided between Eastern and Western Conferences in 2026.Open the full entry’s inaugural 1996 season. He had previously helped secure Foxboro Stadium as a venue for the 1994 World CupFIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup is FIFA’s men’s national-team football tournament, held every four years.Open the full entry.⁠[4]

The Kraft Group built the privately financed Gillette Stadium between 2000 and 2002.⁠[3]

Kraft reached an agreement with the New York JetsNew York JetsThe New York Jets are an NFL professional American football team in the AFC East. Awarded an AFL franchise in 1959, they began play as the New York Titans in 1960 and adopted their current name in 1963. Joe Namath led them to victory in Super Bowl III. Owned by Robert Wood Johnson, the Jets share MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the Giants. Aaron Glenn became head coach in 2025.Open the full entry, trading three draft picks, including a first-round selection, for Bill Belichick and two later-round picks. Belichick became Patriots head coach on January 27, 2000.⁠[5]

On February 3, 2002, the Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams 20–17 to win their first Super Bowl. Adam Vinatieri’s 48-yard field goal as time expired settled the game.⁠[6]

The team beat the Carolina PanthersCarolina PanthersThe Carolina Panthers are an NFL professional American football team representing the Carolinas. Awarded a franchise in 1993, they began play in 1995 and now play at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. They won NFC championships in the 2003 and 2015 seasons. David Tepper purchased the team in 2018.Open the full entry 32–29 in 2004 and the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are an NFL professional American football team founded in 1933 and competing in the NFC East. Based at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they won NFL championships in 1948, 1949 and 1960 and Super Bowls LII and LIX. Jeffrey Lurie purchased the franchise in 1994, and Nick Sirianni became head coach in 2021.Open the full entry 24–21 in 2005, completing three championships in four seasons.⁠[6]

The Kraft Group expanded the Gillette Stadium site with Patriot Place, a mixed-use retail and entertainment development extending the property’s activities beyond games.⁠[7]

Kraft participated in negotiations during the 2011 NFLNFLThe NFL (National Football League) is a U.S. professional American football league of 32 clubs. Founded in 1920 as the APFA and renamed in 1922, it is organized into the AFC and NFC, with the season culminating in the Super Bowl.Open the full entry lockout. At an August 10 press conference, he described the resulting ten-year labor arrangement and credited Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, Jeff Saturday, Dominique Foxworth and the owners’ negotiating team.⁠[8]

Kraft recalled that the negotiations overlapped with Myra’s final illness and that he attended with her knowledge and support. He praised Saturday’s consistent participation on behalf of players.⁠[8]

Kraft invested $1 million in TheranosTheranosTheranos was a blood-testing company founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes and based in Palo Alto, California, which offered retail testing with Walgreens and was valued at up to $9 billion before regulatory sanctions and criminal charges over alleged fraud in its technology and financial claims led to its dissolution in 2018.Open the full entry.⁠[9]

The Patriots defeated the Los Angeles RamsLos Angeles RamsThe Los Angeles Rams are an NFL professional American football team in the NFC West. They joined the NFL in Cleveland in 1937, later played in Los Angeles and St. Louis, and returned to the Los Angeles area in 2016. Their current home is SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Owned by Stan Kroenke and coached by Sean McVay, the Rams won the 1945 and 1951 NFL titles and Super Bowls XXXIV and LVI.Open the full entry 13–3 in Super Bowl LIII for their sixth championship. Bill Belichick and Tom BradyTom BradyTom Brady is an American retired football quarterback, sports broadcaster and investor. He played for the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning seven Super Bowls across twenty-three NFL seasons. His subsequent work includes sports broadcasting, team ownership and sports-related business ventures.Open the full entry were respectively the head coach and quarterback for all six victories.⁠[10]

Kraft founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in 2019. Later renamed Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, it uses public messaging, partnerships and community programs to mobilize opposition to antisemitism and other forms of hate.⁠[11]

In February 2019, Kraft was charged in Florida with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution and pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors dropped the charges on September 24, 2020, after an appellate court ruled that secretly recorded police video was inadmissible.⁠[12]

Prosecutors said the remaining evidence was insufficient to proceed without the video. The case ended in dismissal, without a trial establishing guilt.⁠[12]

The Revolution earned its first Supporters’ Shield with a then-MLS-record 73 regular-season points and 22 wins. The trophy ended a wait stretching back to the club’s inaugural 1996 season.⁠[13]

Massachusetts General Hospital received a $50 million gift from Robert K. Kraft and the Kraft Family Foundation in fiscal 2022 to address healthcare disparities associated with race, ethnicity, geography and economic circumstances.⁠[14]

Kraft and his son Jonathan returned to Harvard Business School to announce the $24 million Robert K. Kraft Family Fellowship Fund. It was then the school’s largest endowed MBA fellowship fund; HBS also named its financial-aid office for the family.⁠[15]

At the event, Kraft discussed his own reliance on scholarships and a fellowship, connecting the gift to expanding similar educational opportunities for others.⁠[15]

Kraft married Dana Blumberg in New York on October 14, 2022. His previous marriage to Myra lasted 48 years, ending with her death from ovarian cancer in 2011.⁠[16]

The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism launched its nationwide #StandUpToJewishHate campaign, using a blue square as a symbol of support for Jewish communities. Kraft and his family committed $25 million to the campaign.⁠[17]

The campaign used television, outdoor advertising and social platforms, including an NBCUniversal partnership and programs such as The Voice, to reach broader audiences, especially non-Jewish viewers.⁠[17]

After Jerod Mayo was dismissed following a 4–13 season, Kraft hired former Patriots player Mike Vrabel as head coach on January 12, 2025.⁠[18]