Josh Kroenke (born May 7, 1980) is an American heir to the
Walmart family inheritance and to
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) is an American sports and entertainment holding company based in Denver, Colorado. Originally known as Kroenke Sports Enterprises, it was started in 1999 by businessman Stan Kroenke to be the parent company ...
, his father's sports-media
conglomerate. He is involved in running the
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
basketball franchise, the
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
ice hockey franchise, the
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...
and English football club,
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
.
[ The company co-owns ]Elitch Gardens Theme Park
Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park is an amusement park in Denver, Colorado. It is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and operated by Premier Parks, LLC. Distinctive for being located in a downtown area, it is open April through October.
Hi ...
as well.
Early life
Josh Kroenke was born on May 7, 1980. His father is Stan Kroenke
Enos Stanley Kroenke (; born July 29, 1947) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los ...
and his mother, Ann Walton Kroenke
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
.[Benjamin Hochman]
Josh Kroenke building a legacy on his own
''The Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
'', April 17, 2011[Jeremy Wilson]
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke is in it for the long haul, says son and heir Josh
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', October 1, 2011 Through his mother, he is a member of the Walton family
The Walton family is an American family whose collective fortune derived from Walmart makes them the richest family in the United States of America.
Overview
The three most prominent living members (Jim, Rob, and Alice Walton) have consist ...
, one of the richest families in the world, who founded Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and still own a controlling interest. He has a sister, Whitney Kroenke Burditt. He grew up in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...
, and attended Rock Bridge High School
Rock Bridge High School is a public high school located in southern Columbia, Missouri, United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12 and is one of four High Schools in Columbia Public Schools. It is located next to the Columbia Area Career ...
.[He attended New Hampton Prep School in New Hampton,Nh for one year]
Pepsi Center
/ref> He graduated from the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
, where he received a full basketball scholarship. While in college, Kroenke found himself involved in a scandal which led to the resignation of Larry Eustachy
Larry Robert Eustachy (born December 1, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach of the Colorado State Rams He was previously the head coach at Idaho and
Eustachy was the AP Coach of the Year in 2000 af ...
, the coach of the Iowa State
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
basketball team. In 2003, Eustachy, a friend of Josh's father Stan Kroenke
Enos Stanley Kroenke (; born July 29, 1947) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los ...
, attended a student party with Josh in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...
.[Patrick Hruby]
I come to praise Larry ...
''ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...
'', May 1, 2003 Photos of Eustachy drinking with college students at the party later surfaced[Tom Witosky]
Iowa State's Eustachy apologizes; future with school uncertain
''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', May 1, 2003 and led to his resignation[Associated Press]
Embattled Eustachy resigns
''Lawrence Journal-World
The ''Lawrence Journal-World'' is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, by Ogden Newspapers.
History
Though the ''Journal-World'' title came into existence in 1911, the paper dates itself to 1858, according to the ...
'', May 6, 2003 from his position at Iowa State.
Career
He now serves as the President of both the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
and National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
.
In 2013, he was appointed by his father, the majority shareholder, to the board of English association football club Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
as a non-executive director. As directors of Arsenal, the Kroenkes have garnered significant antipathy from supporters, who feel that they have no ambition and are merely using the club for their own profit at the expense of the team's competitiveness.
In April 2021, Arsenal were announced as a founding member of the European Super League, which would have effectively ended the pyramid system of European football and placed Arsenal in a closed league without prospects for meritocratic relegation and promotion. Arsenal and the five other English clubs involved backed out within two days after a strong backlash. After the aborted attempt to end the European football system, Arsenal fans protested and called for the Kroenke family to sell the club. The Kroenke family released a statement saying they would not sell the club.
Personal life
Kroenke resides in Denver, Colorado. Kroenke purchased an 1,885-square foot condo for $1.4 million in 2007. Prior to his move to Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Kroenke lived in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He and his sister, Whitney Kroenke Burditt, purchased a 1,735-square-foot condominium, with a 400-square-foot roof deck, a small balcony and views of the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
for $2.7 million in 2005.[Elizabeth A. Harris]
Wal-Mart Heirs Sell Chelsea Condo
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', August 10, 2010 They sold it in 2007 for $2.45 million—below both the initial listed price of $2.995 million and their final asking price of $2.55 million.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroenke, Josh
1980 births
Living people
American real estate businesspeople
Arsenal F.C. directors and chairmen
Businesspeople from Columbia, Missouri
Colorado Avalanche executives
Denver Nuggets executives
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
National Hockey League executives
People from Columbia, Missouri
Rock Bridge High School alumni
University of Missouri alumni
Walton family
Los Angeles Gladiators