Robert Kraft
Encyclopedia
Robert K. Kraft is an American business magnate
. He is the Chairman
and was the Chief Executive Officer
of The Kraft Group
, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development and a private equity portfolio. His holdings include the National Football League
's New England Patriots
and Major League Soccer
's New England Revolution
, and Gillette Stadium
.
He currently (as of 2011) serves on the Board of Directors of Viacom
and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
, and serves as a trustee of Boston College
and as a trustee emeritus of his alma mater, Columbia University
.
in his hometown, graduating in 1959.
He is a 1963 graduate of Columbia University
, which he attended on scholarship, and received an MBA
from Harvard Business School
in 1965. While at Columbia, Kraft played on the school's lightweight football
team. He was married to the former Myra Hiatt
, a 1964 graduate of Brandeis University
and the daughter of the late Worcester, Massachusetts
philanthropist Jacob Hiatt. She died from cancer, aged 68, on July 20, 2011.
He began his professional career with the Rand-Whitney Group, a Worcester-based packaging company owned by Hiatt. He still serves as this company's chairman. In 1972, he founded International Forest Products, a trader of physical paper commodities. The two combined companies make up the largest privately held paper and packaging companies in the United States. International Forest Products is consistently among the top 100 US exporters/importers and in 2005 was No. 45 on the Journal of Commerce's list in that category.
In 1986, Kraft helped a minority business group acquire WNEV-TV, a CBS affiliate in Boston (now NBC
affiliate WHDH-TV
). He continued his investment in the entertainment field by buying several Boston radio stations. He is a member of a private equity group, which funded film
, theatre
, and television producer
Scott Sanders
' company, "Scott Sanders Productions."
days, Kraft has been a season ticket holder since 1971, when the team moved to the then-Schaefer Stadium
.
In 1985, Kraft bought an option on the parcel adjacent to the stadium. The option would be the first in a series of steps which would culminate nearly a decade later in his eventual ownership of the team. Later, in 1988, Kraft outbid several competitors to buy the stadium out of bankruptcy court from Billy Sullivan
for $25 million. The purchase included the stadium's lease to the Patriots – which would later provide Kraft leverage in purchasing the team.
In 1992, St. Louis
businessman, James Orthwein
, purchased the Patriots from Victor Kiam
, who was facing bankruptcy and was indebted to Orthwein for several million dollars. For the next two years, rumors of a Patriots move to St. Louis were rampant, based on the fact that Orthwein wanted to return the NFL to his hometown – a city that had lost the Cardinals
in 1988.
In 1994, Orthwein offered Kraft $75 million to buy out the remainder of the team's lease at the Foxboro Stadium, which, if Kraft agreed, would free Orthwein to move the Patriots to St. Louis. However, Kraft rejected the offer and made a counter-bid – a then NFL-record $175 million for the outright purchase of the Patriots (a surprising move in that the Patriots were, at the time, among the NFL's least-valuable franchises), an offer Orthwein accepted.
The day after the NFL approved the sale in January 1994, Patriots fans showed their appreciation by purchasing almost 6,000 season tickets en route to selling out every game for the first time in the team's 34-year history. Every home game has been sold out since. The Patriots responded by putting together a seven-game winning streak to end the 1994 season, making the playoffs for the first time since 1986. In 1996, Kraft founded the New England Revolution, a charter member of Major League Soccer which began playing alongside the Patriots at Foxboro.
After stadium plans that included revamping the area in Foxboro and several in and around the Boston area met a host of obstacles and fell through, the Patriots nearly moved to Hartford, Connecticut
in 1999. They reached an agreement with then Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland
to move to a new stadium intended to be the cornerstone of downtown redevelopment. After Rowland lobbied the Connecticut legislature to approve state funds for the stadium the Patriots were given another opportunity to resume negotiations with the Massachusetts legislators who had initially balked on paying for site improvements for a new stadium in Foxboro. At the last minute the Massachusetts legislature approved the subsidies and hurdles were cleared for what became Gillette Stadium
in their longtime home of Foxboro. The $350 million stadium, privately financed by Kraft, opened in 2002 as CMGI
Field, before financial difficulties for CMGI resulted in Gillette taking over naming rights.
In 2007, Kraft announced plans to develop the land around Gillette Stadium, creating a $375 million open-air shopping and entertainment center called Patriot Place
. The development opened in stages through 2007, 2008, and 2009 and included "The Hall at Patriot Place," a multi-story museum attached to the stadium, and the "CBS Scene," a CBS
-themed restaurant.
The Patriots appeared in Super Bowl XX
under their original owners, the Sullivans. Yet, this was one of only six playoff appearances in 33 years. However, since Kraft bought the team, they have made the playoffs 12 times in 17 years. They have also appeared in more playoff games
(25) than in the team's first 34 seasons combined (10). The team won AFC East
titles in 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010 and represented the AFC in the Super Bowl
in 1996
(lost), 2001
(won) 2002
(won) 2004
(won) and 2007
(lost). The Patriots finished the 2003, 2004, and 2010 seasons with identical 14–2 regular-season records, and also finished the 2007 regular season undefeated. They were, however, defeated by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII
.
Kraft was principally involved in the 2011 NFL labor negotiations. He was credited for being a bridgebuilder who brought the two sides closer together and a catalyst in negotiating a historic 10-year agreement. The deal was announced on Monday, July 25, while Kraft was still mourning the death of his "sweetheart," Myra Kraft, his wife of 48 years. In what has now become an iconic image of the CBA resolution, NFLPA representative and Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday praised Kraft for his role in the negotiations, stating, "Without him, this deal does not get done. He is a man who helped us save football ..."
In Kraft's first 17 seasons as team owner the Patriots have won 180 regular season games and 17 playoff games (including Super Bowls XXXVI
, XXXVIII
and XXXIX
). The team reached a milestone 200th win under Kraft ownership with their third win of 2011
against the New York Jets
.
had inadvertently taken one of Kraft's three Super Bowl
rings. Kraft quickly cleared up the misunderstanding, stating that he had given Putin the ring out of "respect and admiration" he had for Putin and the Russian people.
In November 2005, Kraft met with Rick Parry
, the Chief Executive of English football team Liverpool
. Kraft was rumoured to be interested in investing money into the 2004-05 European Champions
. Kraft told BBC Radio Five Live
: "Liverpool is a great brand and it's something our family respects a lot. We're always interested in opportunities and growing, so you never know what can happen." Eventually, however, the club was sold to American duo George Gillett
and Tom Hicks
.
, Harvard Business School
, Brandeis University
, The College of the Holy Cross, Boston College
, Tufts University
, the Belmont Hill School
, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. One of their most distinctive projects is supporting American Football Israel
, including Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem and the Kraft Family Israel Football League
. In 2007, in recognition of a gift of $5 million in support of Columbia's intercollegiate athletics program, the playing field at Columbia's Lawrence A. Wien Stadium at the Baker Field Athletics Complex was named "Robert K. Kraft Field."
On October 1, 2011, Kraft was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious learned societies, founded by John Adams, James Bowdoin and John Hancock in 1780.
He has received numerous honorary degrees from several colleges and universities and was awarded the NCAA's highest honor when he received the Theodore Roosevelt Award, "presented annually to ta distinguished citizen of national reputation and outstanding accomplishments."
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
. He is the Chairman
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...
and was the Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of The Kraft Group
The Kraft Group
The Kraft Group, LLC is a group of privately held companies in the professional sports, manufacturing, and real-estate development industries doing business in 82 countries...
, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate development and a private equity portfolio. His holdings include the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
and Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
's New England Revolution
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional association football club based in Foxborough, Massachusetts which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...
, and Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, 21 miles southwest of downtown Boston and from downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for the New England Patriots football team and the New England Revolution...
.
He currently (as of 2011) serves on the Board of Directors of Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers most of Connecticut , Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. It is headquartered in the Federal Reserve Bank Building in Boston,...
, and serves as a trustee of Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
and as a trustee emeritus of his alma mater, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Early life and career
Kraft attended Brookline High SchoolBrookline High School
Brookline High School is a four-year public high school in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, in the United States.As of the 2007-08 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,826 students and 136 teachers , for a student-teacher ratio of 13.4 to 1 teacher.-Education:Almost every senior in...
in his hometown, graduating in 1959.
He is a 1963 graduate of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, which he attended on scholarship, and received an MBA
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
in 1965. While at Columbia, Kraft played on the school's lightweight football
Sprint football
Sprint football, formerly called lightweight football, is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under rules similar to American football. The sport is currently governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football League....
team. He was married to the former Myra Hiatt
Myra Kraft
Myra Nathalie Kraft, née Hiatt was an American philanthropist. She was the daughter of the late Worcester philanthropist Jacob Hiatt and wife of New England Patriots and New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft....
, a 1964 graduate of Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
and the daughter of the late Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
philanthropist Jacob Hiatt. She died from cancer, aged 68, on July 20, 2011.
He began his professional career with the Rand-Whitney Group, a Worcester-based packaging company owned by Hiatt. He still serves as this company's chairman. In 1972, he founded International Forest Products, a trader of physical paper commodities. The two combined companies make up the largest privately held paper and packaging companies in the United States. International Forest Products is consistently among the top 100 US exporters/importers and in 2005 was No. 45 on the Journal of Commerce's list in that category.
In 1986, Kraft helped a minority business group acquire WNEV-TV, a CBS affiliate in Boston (now NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WHDH-TV
WHDH-TV
WHDH, digital channel 42 , is an NBC-affiliated television station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest NBC station not owned by the network. Owned by Sunbeam Television, WHDH is a sister station to CW affiliate WLVI...
). He continued his investment in the entertainment field by buying several Boston radio stations. He is a member of a private equity group, which funded film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, and television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
Scott Sanders
Scott Sanders (producer)
Scott Sanders is an American television producer and theatrical producer. He is best known for the theatrical musical version of Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple, of which he was Lead Producer along with Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, and Harvey Weinstein, for producing Elaine Stritch: at...
' company, "Scott Sanders Productions."
Ownership of the Patriots
A Patriots fan since their American Football LeagueAmerican Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
days, Kraft has been a season ticket holder since 1971, when the team moved to the then-Schaefer Stadium
Foxboro Stadium
Foxboro Stadium was an outdoor stadium, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts...
.
In 1985, Kraft bought an option on the parcel adjacent to the stadium. The option would be the first in a series of steps which would culminate nearly a decade later in his eventual ownership of the team. Later, in 1988, Kraft outbid several competitors to buy the stadium out of bankruptcy court from Billy Sullivan
Billy Sullivan (American football)
William Hallissey "Billy" Sullivan, Jr. was an American businessman who owned the Boston Patriots franchise from their inception in the American Football League until their sale, as the New England Patriots of the NFL, to Victor Kiam in 1988.-Early life:Sullivan was born in Lowell, Massachusetts...
for $25 million. The purchase included the stadium's lease to the Patriots – which would later provide Kraft leverage in purchasing the team.
In 1992, St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
businessman, James Orthwein
James Orthwein
James Busch Orthwein was an American advertising executive and great-grandson of Anheuser-Busch founder Adolphus Busch. Orthwein owned the New England Patriots from 1992-1993.-Life and career:...
, purchased the Patriots from Victor Kiam
Victor Kiam
Victor K. Kiam was an American entrepreneur and the owner of the New England Patriots football team from 1988-1991....
, who was facing bankruptcy and was indebted to Orthwein for several million dollars. For the next two years, rumors of a Patriots move to St. Louis were rampant, based on the fact that Orthwein wanted to return the NFL to his hometown – a city that had lost the Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1988.
In 1994, Orthwein offered Kraft $75 million to buy out the remainder of the team's lease at the Foxboro Stadium, which, if Kraft agreed, would free Orthwein to move the Patriots to St. Louis. However, Kraft rejected the offer and made a counter-bid – a then NFL-record $175 million for the outright purchase of the Patriots (a surprising move in that the Patriots were, at the time, among the NFL's least-valuable franchises), an offer Orthwein accepted.
The day after the NFL approved the sale in January 1994, Patriots fans showed their appreciation by purchasing almost 6,000 season tickets en route to selling out every game for the first time in the team's 34-year history. Every home game has been sold out since. The Patriots responded by putting together a seven-game winning streak to end the 1994 season, making the playoffs for the first time since 1986. In 1996, Kraft founded the New England Revolution, a charter member of Major League Soccer which began playing alongside the Patriots at Foxboro.
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
in 1999. They reached an agreement with then Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland
John G. Rowland
John Grosvenor Rowland was the 86th Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004; he is a member of the Republican Party. He is married to Patty Rowland, his second wife, and the couple have five children between them...
to move to a new stadium intended to be the cornerstone of downtown redevelopment. After Rowland lobbied the Connecticut legislature to approve state funds for the stadium the Patriots were given another opportunity to resume negotiations with the Massachusetts legislators who had initially balked on paying for site improvements for a new stadium in Foxboro. At the last minute the Massachusetts legislature approved the subsidies and hurdles were cleared for what became Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, 21 miles southwest of downtown Boston and from downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for the New England Patriots football team and the New England Revolution...
in their longtime home of Foxboro. The $350 million stadium, privately financed by Kraft, opened in 2002 as CMGI
CMGI
ModusLink Global Solutions, formerly CMGI Inc., is an American technology and venture capital company, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company supplies a range of internet and communications services, mostly to computer companies, its biggest customer being Hewlett-Packard Company...
Field, before financial difficulties for CMGI resulted in Gillette taking over naming rights.
In 2007, Kraft announced plans to develop the land around Gillette Stadium, creating a $375 million open-air shopping and entertainment center called Patriot Place
Patriot Place
Patriot Place is an open-air shopping center located in Foxborough, Massachusetts built around Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution. Phase 1 opened in fall 2007, which included the construction of a small strip mall containing Bass Pro Shops, Staples,...
. The development opened in stages through 2007, 2008, and 2009 and included "The Hall at Patriot Place," a multi-story museum attached to the stadium, and the "CBS Scene," a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-themed restaurant.
The Patriots appeared in Super Bowl XX
Super Bowl XX
Super Bowl XX was an American football championship game played on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1985 regular season...
under their original owners, the Sullivans. Yet, this was one of only six playoff appearances in 33 years. However, since Kraft bought the team, they have made the playoffs 12 times in 17 years. They have also appeared in more playoff games
NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held at the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking procedure exists in the...
(25) than in the team's first 34 seasons combined (10). The team won AFC East
AFC East
The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference. There are four members: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots , and New York Jets...
titles in 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010 and represented the AFC in the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
in 1996
Super Bowl XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American...
(lost), 2001
Super Bowl XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game played on February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 2001 regular season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots won their first Super...
(won) 2002
Super Bowl XXXVII
Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 2002 regular season...
(won) 2004
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
(won) and 2007
Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...
(lost). The Patriots finished the 2003, 2004, and 2010 seasons with identical 14–2 regular-season records, and also finished the 2007 regular season undefeated. They were, however, defeated by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...
.
Kraft was principally involved in the 2011 NFL labor negotiations. He was credited for being a bridgebuilder who brought the two sides closer together and a catalyst in negotiating a historic 10-year agreement. The deal was announced on Monday, July 25, while Kraft was still mourning the death of his "sweetheart," Myra Kraft, his wife of 48 years. In what has now become an iconic image of the CBA resolution, NFLPA representative and Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday praised Kraft for his role in the negotiations, stating, "Without him, this deal does not get done. He is a man who helped us save football ..."
In Kraft's first 17 seasons as team owner the Patriots have won 180 regular season games and 17 playoff games (including Super Bowls XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game played on February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 2001 regular season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots won their first Super...
, XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
and XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...
). The team reached a milestone 200th win under Kraft ownership with their third win of 2011
2011 New England Patriots season
The 2011 New England Patriots season is the 42nd season for the team in the National Football League and 52nd season overall.The Patriots dedicated their 2011 season to the memory of Myra Kraft, the wife of owner Robert Kraft, who died on July 20, 2011 after a long fight against cancer...
against the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Other activities
In 2005, a minor international incident was caused when it was reported that Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
had inadvertently taken one of Kraft's three Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
rings. Kraft quickly cleared up the misunderstanding, stating that he had given Putin the ring out of "respect and admiration" he had for Putin and the Russian people.
In November 2005, Kraft met with Rick Parry
Rick Parry
Rick Parry is the former chief executive of Liverpool Football Club, and the former head of the FA Premier League. He is currently on the board of directors at New York Cosmos .-Career:...
, the Chief Executive of English football team Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
. Kraft was rumoured to be interested in investing money into the 2004-05 European Champions
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
. Kraft told BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
: "Liverpool is a great brand and it's something our family respects a lot. We're always interested in opportunities and growing, so you never know what can happen." Eventually, however, the club was sold to American duo George Gillett
George N. Gillett Jr.
-Biography:George Gillett graduated from Lake Forest Academy in 1956. He attended Amherst College and is a graduate of Dominican College in Racine, Wisconsin....
and Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks, Sr. , is an American 'leveraged buyout' businessman living in Dallas, Texas. Despite Forbes Magazine estimating Hicks' wealth at USD 1 billion in 2009, Hicks was unable to pay off joint loans of circa £200 million the following year...
.
Philanthropy
The Krafts have donated over $100 million dollars to a variety of philanthropic causes including education, child and women issues, healthcare, youth sports and American and Israeli causes. In 2011, the Krafts pledged $20 million to Partners HealthCare to launch the Kraft Family National Center for Leadership and Training in Community Health, an initiative designed to improve access to quality healthcare at community health centers throughout New England. Among the many institutions the Krafts have supported are Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
, Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, The College of the Holy Cross, Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, the Belmont Hill School
Belmont Hill School
Belmont Hill School is a prestigious independent boys school located on a campus in Belmont, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The school enrolls approximately 440 students in grades 7-12, separated into the Middle School and the Upper School , and refers to these grades as "Forms" with a Roman...
, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. One of their most distinctive projects is supporting American Football Israel
American Football Israel
American Football in Israel is a non-profit association that in spring 2004 was granted official recognition as the sport's governing body in Israel by the Ministry of Education's Sports Authority...
, including Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem and the Kraft Family Israel Football League
Israeli Football League
The Israel Football League was founded in the Summer of 2005 by a group of Israelis, led by Mr. Ofri Becker, who wanted to play tackle American football. The first season, played without pads or an official governing body, began in the Fall of 2005...
. In 2007, in recognition of a gift of $5 million in support of Columbia's intercollegiate athletics program, the playing field at Columbia's Lawrence A. Wien Stadium at the Baker Field Athletics Complex was named "Robert K. Kraft Field."
On October 1, 2011, Kraft was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious learned societies, founded by John Adams, James Bowdoin and John Hancock in 1780.
He has received numerous honorary degrees from several colleges and universities and was awarded the NCAA's highest honor when he received the Theodore Roosevelt Award, "presented annually to ta distinguished citizen of national reputation and outstanding accomplishments."