Robert Kauffman (born June 6, 1964) is an American businessman,

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

, racing team owner and racing driver. Founder of

Fortress Investment Group Fortress Investment Group is an American investment management firm based in New York City. Fortress was founded as a private equity firm in 1998 by Wes Edens, Rob Kauffman, and Randal Nardone. When Fortress launched on the NYSE in February 200 ...

, Kauffman retired from investing in 2012.

Motorsports

In October 2007, Kauffman purchased part ownership of

Michael Waltrip Racing Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, doing business as Michael Waltrip Racing ("MWR"), was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The company was as a 50–50 partnership betwe ...

, a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

team. Kaufman also owns RK Motors, a car collection in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, where he resides; he also competes in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

events and has competed in the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and 2013 24 Hours of Daytona, and in the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

. On July 7, 2014, Kauffman was named the chairman of the

Race Team Alliance The Race Team Alliance (RTA) is a 501(c)(6) Delaware not-for-profit business organization that consists of 16 NASCAR Cup Series teams as of 2022. The RTA is intended to increase revenues and budget efficiency for NASCAR Cup Series organizations, ...

, a partnership between eighteen Cup teams. In July 2015, ''

SportsBusiness Daily Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, an ...

'' reported that Kauffman was interested in purchasing a stake in

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

. It was verified the next day, when Kauffman confirmed that he was now a part of Ganassi's organization.

Motorsports career results

Sports car racing

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

24 Hours of Daytona

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kauffman, Rob Living people 1964 births Businesspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers AF Corse drivers Michael Waltrip Racing drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers