Inside the office of the New England Patriots owner.
AT WORK, New England Patriots owner and five-time Super Bowl champ Robert Kraft, 76, is never far from the NFL dynasty that has made him a billionaire several times over. His office sits inside Gillette Stadium, the Foxborough, Massachusetts, arena Kraft built and to which he commutes from his home in suburban Brookline. Around the corner a showroom displays the five Vince Lombardi and nine conference championship trophies won by the Patriots. (Kraft
purchased the team in 1994 for $172 million using profits from his paper-and-packaging conglomerate.) A few steps away is a private elevator he takes to the Pats’ locker room and sidelines on game days.
The office, which is next door to his son Jonathan’s, shares the space that serves as headquarters for Kraft’s other ventures, including his Major League Soccer team, the New England Revolution, and one of his paper-and-packaging manufacturers, International Forest Products.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARTIN SCHOELLER FOR FORBES
Shortly after Kraft received his 2005 Super Bowl ring, he visited St. Petersburg, Russia, at the invitation of then Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill. Joining Rupert Murdoch, Weill and several others, Kraft met with Vladimir Putin at Konstantinovsky...
Kraft embraces Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday at the end of the four-month NFL lockout in 2011. Kraft is considered to have been instrumental in bringing it to a close just five days after his wife, Myra, died of cancer.
Four duplicate Super Bowl rings too large to wear sit on Kraft’s shelf. (He recently added a fifth, marking last season’s Super Bowl win. The five have more than 750 diamonds among them.) There are also three rings from AFC Championship games.
An orchid sent by longtime friend Elton John and his family for Kraft’s 76th birthday in June. The card is signed by John’s family: “Happy birthday, with all our love, Elton, David, Zachary & Elijah.”
January 1997 included a New England Super Bowl appearance and President Bill Clinton’s second-term inauguration. Clinton signed a Patriots hat for Kraft: “We’ve had good years.”
An Emmy for outstanding achievement in a sports series, won in 2007 for the Patriots All-Access television show.