Jonathan A. Kraft (born March 4, 1964) is an American businessman. He is president of
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 90 countries. Founded in 1998 by American businessman Robert Kraft as a holding com ...
, the
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
of the Kraft family's business interests. He is also the
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
and investor-operator of the
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...
.
Early life and education
Kraft was born in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
, 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, one of four children of
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
owner
Robert Kraft
Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, ...
and his late wife
Myra Kraft
Myra Hiatt Kraft (''née'' Myra Nathalie Hiatt; December 27, 1942 – July 20, 2011) was an American philanthropist and the wife of New England Patriots and New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft.
Early life and education
Kraft was born in Wor ...
.
Robert Kraft is worth an estimated $4.8 billion, according to Forbes and ranks as 108th richest person in 2015. Kraft attended the
Belmont Hill School
Belmont Hill School is an independent boys school 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 (grades 7-9) and the Upper School (grad ...
for high school. In 1986, Kraft graduated from
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in history. He served on Williams'
board of trustees
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
from 2003 until 2015. After working as a consultant at
Bain & Company
Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...
for two years, Kraft earned his MBA from
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
in 1990.
Professional career
New England Patriots
In 1994, Kraft helped his family create a plan to purchase the New England Patriots.
Since his family's purchase of the team, Kraft has held the titles of Vice President, Vice chairman and President.
Role with the NFL
Within 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 ...
, Kraft has served on multiple committees, including the Digital Media and Business Ventures committees. In March 2006, when the
National Football League Players Association
The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...
and the NFL were deadlocked in contract negotiations, Kraft helped design a revenue sharing plan that was used for that version of the
collective bargaining agreement
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
.
New England Revolution
In 1995,
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
was started. One of the inaugural teams in the league was the Revolution. Kraft has been the co-owner/investor of the Revolution, along with his father, since its inception. In 2002, the Revolution played in their first final against the Galaxy in the
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...
.
The final was held at
Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Footb ...
, previously named CMGI Field, in
Foxborough, Massachusetts
Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 at ...
.
The match had a record crowd and the Revolution lost. They made four more MLS Cup appearances in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014.
Other soccer involvements
Kraft was also an owner/investor of the
San Jose Earthquakes
The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...
from 1999 to 2000 when the Kraft Group owned the team.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Kraft has served on the Board of Trustees of
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
since 2010 and was named chair in 2019 after the departure of
Cathy Minehan
Cathy E. Minehan (born February 15, 1947, in Jersey City, New Jersey) was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston from 1994 until her retirement in July 2007. Minehan also served as a member of the Federal Open ...
.
COVID-19 pandemic
In March 2020, Kraft and his father offered the use of the
Patriots team airplane to
to deliver more than a million
N95 masks
An N95 filtering facepiece respirator, commonly abbreviated N95 respirator, is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtratio ...
from
Shenzhen, China
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major Sub-provincial division, sub-provincial city and one of the Special economic zones of China, special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pea ...
for use by medical professionals to help mitigate the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...
. Some of the supplies landed in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on April 2, 2020 after several weeks of preparation.
Personal life
In 1995, Kraft married Patricia Lipoma in a Jewish ceremony at the
Chestnut Hill home of his parents.
She is a convert to
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
.
He has 3 children, two sons and a daughter.
Awards and honors
*Six-time
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
champion – as an executive with the New England Patriots
References
External links
New England Patriots profileThe Kraft Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Jonathan
1964 births
Living people
American chief executives
American corporate directors
American financiers
American manufacturing businesspeople
American media executives
American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
American real estate businesspeople
American soccer chairmen and investors
Bain & Company employees
Businesspeople from Massachusetts
Harvard Business School alumni
Jewish American sportspeople
Kraft family
Major League Soccer executives
National Football League team presidents
New England Patriots executives
New England Revolution
People from Brookline, Massachusetts
Williams College alumni
Belmont Hill School alumni