Jeffrey Robert Lurie (born September 8, 1951) is an American
motion picture producer, businessman, and the owner of the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL).
Early life and education
Lurie was born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in Boston, the son of Nancy (née Smith) and Morris John Lurie. His grandfather,
Philip Smith, founded the
General Cinema
General Cinema Corporation, also known as General Cinema, GCC, or General Cinema Theatres, was a chain of movie theaters in the United States. At its peak, the company operated about 1,500 screens, some of which were among the first cinemas certi ...
movie theater chain, which was one of the largest operators of
drive-in movie theaters
A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movie ...
in the United States. His uncle is
Richard A. Smith. He has two siblings, Peter and Cathy. His father died April 14, 1961, at the age of 44 when Jeffrey was nine years old.
In the late 1960s, General Cinema began acquiring bottling franchises, including a
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi wa ...
bottling operation. General Cinema evolved over the years into Harcourt General Inc., a $3.7-billion conglomerate based in
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Chestnut Hill is an affluent New England village located west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is located within one or more incorporated municipal entities. It is located partia ...
, with 23,700 employees worldwide. In its heyday it was the nation's fourth-largest chain of movie theaters, owned several publishing houses, three insurance companies, and a leading global consulting firm. In 1984 Carter Hawley Hale was acquired, which was at the time the tenth-largest clothing retailer in the United States, including
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman.
...
and
Neiman-Marcus
Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compan ...
.
Lurie earned a B.A. from
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
, a master's degree in psychology from
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
, and a doctorate in social policy from
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management is one of the four graduate schools of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked as one of the top ten schools of social policy and one of the top 50 graduate schoo ...
at
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, ...
, where he wrote his thesis on the depiction of women in Hollywood movies. He was born to
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
parents but has spent his adult life as a non-practicing Jew. Prior to entering business, Lurie served as an adjunct assistant professor of social policy at Boston University.
Career
In 1983, he left academia to join General Cinema Corporation, a major film company founded by his grandfather, Philip Smith, and headed by his uncle,
Richard A. Smith. He worked as an executive in the company as a liaison between General Cinema Corporation and the production community in Hollywood. He was also an advisor in The General Cinema national film buying office.
He then founded Chestnut Hill Productions in 1985, which produced a string of Hollywood movies and TV shows. The company initially started off with a multi-feature joint venture with
Tri-Star Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
to develop projects, then in 1987, three of the Chestnut Hill projects were picked up by
MGM/UA Communications Co., two with
Paramount Pictures and
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
each, and a single picture Chestnut Hill is producing for
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
, and a majority of the eight Chestnut Hill productions would be received by
Tri-Star Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
which then become an independent production company.
Tri-Star Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
received first look at all projects that were handled by Chestnut Hill Productions, with Tri-Star and Chestnut Hill to co-finance development and Tri-Star could pick up the entire tab on production.
On February 27, 2011, the Lurie-produced movie ''
Inside Job
An insider threat is a malicious threat to an organization that comes from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates, who have inside information concerning the organization's security ...
'' won an Academy Award (Oscar) for best documentary film. The company also produced television commercials. Two years later he won a second Oscar when ''
Inocente
''Inocente'' is a 2012 short documentary film directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix. The film received the 2013 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). The film is an inspiring coming-of-age story of a 15-year-old girl in California. ...
'', in which he was executive producer, won for Best Documentary Short Film.
In 2020, Forbes ranked him No. 319 on the
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
400 list of the richest people in America.
Philadelphia Eagles ownership
![Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie (cropped) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Eagles_owner_Jeffrey_Lurie_%28cropped%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
As a fan of all the Boston sports teams, Lurie went to games and put himself to sleep listening to the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
on his transistor radio. The Luries had been season-ticket holders since the
New England Patriots franchise began in 1960, the year the
American Football League was founded. Lurie cheered for
Gino Cappelletti,
Houston Antwine
Houston J. Antwine (April 11, 1939 – December 26, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the S ...
, and
Babe Parilli. In 1993, Lurie tried to buy the New England Patriots, but he dropped out of the bidding at $150 million when his uncle Richard Smith nixed the purchase based on the financials.
Lurie's name also had surfaced in sale talks regarding the
Los Angeles Rams, and he was a potential investor in a bid for a Baltimore expansion team with
Robert Tisch, who subsequently bought 50% of the
New York Giants. Five months later, Smith agreed to let his nephew buy the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...
. Lurie contacted
Norman Braman
Norman Braman (born August 23, 1932) is an American billionaire car dealer, art collector, and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Early life and education
Braman was born in 1932 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the Cobbs Cre ...
, then owner of the Eagles. Lurie bought the Philadelphia Eagles on May 6, 1994, from Braman for $195 million. Lurie and his mother, Nancy Lurie Marks (the only daughter of
Philip Smith) of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, borrowed $190 million from the
Bank of Boston
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
to buy the Eagles.
To back the Bank of Boston loan, Lurie put up millions of dollars' worth of personal stock in Harcourt General and GC Companies Inc., as equity capital.
Additionally, he and his mother pledged their stock in the family trust as collateral so Lurie could borrow the rest.
In 2017, Forbes valued the club at $2.65 billion, ranking them 10th among NFL teams in value.
On February 4, 2018, the Eagles defeated the Patriots to win
Super Bowl LII
Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...
by the score of 41–33, giving Lurie his first title as Eagles owner. The victory evened the score with New England, as the only other Lurie-era Super Bowl appearance was a 24–21 loss to the Patriots in
Super Bowl XXXIX.
Personal life
In a pre-production meeting for ''I Love You To Death'', Lurie met
Christina Weiss
Christina Weiss Lurie is a documentary producer, philanthropist and minority owner of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. Weiss Lurie is president of the Eagles Youth Partnership, the team's charitable foundation, and co-founder of three independent ...
, a former actress who was working for his production company.
In 1992, Lurie married Weiss in
Gstaad
Gstaad ( ; ) is a town in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Bern in southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort and a popular destination amongst high society and the internati ...
,
Switzerland. They had two children: a son Julian (b. 1995) and a daughter Milena (b.1993).
In 2012, the couple announced that they were divorcing; the divorce was finalized in August 2012. She received a "sizeable" ownership interest in the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...
as part of the divorce settlement. On May 4, 2013, he married Tina Lai.
Philly.com: "Jeffrey Lurie gets married" by Zach Berman
May 5, 2013
Filmography
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film
;As an actor
;Thanks
Television
;As an actor
Awards and honors
*Three-time Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winner:
**2011 for Best Documentary as executive producer of ''Inside Job
An insider threat is a malicious threat to an organization that comes from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates, who have inside information concerning the organization's security ...
''
**2013 for Best Documentary Short Film as executive producer of ''Inocente
''Inocente'' is a 2012 short documentary film directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix. The film received the 2013 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). The film is an inspiring coming-of-age story of a 15-year-old girl in California. ...
''
**2022 for Best Documentary Feature as executive producer of Summer of Soul.
*Super Bowl LII
Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...
champion as owner of the Eagles
References
External links
Philadelphia Eagles profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lurie, Jeffrey
1951 births
Living people
American billionaires
American chief executives of professional sports organizations
Philadelphia Eagles owners
Boston University faculty
Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Heller School for Social Policy and Management alumni
Clark University alumni
Jewish American sportspeople
American company founders
Businesspeople from Boston
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni
Smith family (theaters)