Denver Broncos sell for record $4.65B, who is all involved?
The Denver Broncos have entered into a sale agreement with the Rob Walton group for a sports franchise-record $4.65 billion. Who is all involved?
The Denver Broncos officially announced late on Tuesday night that the team has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group.
The agreement is for a stunning sports franchise record of $4.65 billion. The last sale of an NFL team was the Carolina Panthers for $2.2 billion to David Tepper back in 2018.
The bar has now been set at an astronomical height.
The Denver Broncos are almost completely officially (pending league owner approval of 24 or more votes) the most valuable sports franchise in history.
Who is all involved in the massive purchase of the Denver Broncos?
Rob Walton
According to Forbes, Rob Walton, age 77, has a net worth of over $58 billion. He served as the chairman of Wal Mart from 1992-2015 and is the eldest son of Walmart’s founder, Sam Walton.
Greg Penner
Penner is the chairman of Walmart and the son-in-law of Rob Walton. It has been speculated that Penner, 52, will handle the day-to-day operations of the Denver Broncos.
Carrie Walton-Penner
The daughter of Rob Walton and wife of Greg Penner, Carrie Walton-Penner is the third in the primary trio purchasing the Denver Broncos.
She is a board member of a variety of organizations and foundations including the Walton Family Foundation, the Stanford University Board of Trustees, the Aspen Institute, and the KIPP Foundation.
Mellody Hobson
Mellody is the Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, Chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation, and also a director of JPMorgan Chase.
She is part of the ownership group and according to the press release from the Denver Broncos, she will bring “strategic acumen and leadership perspective to our team.”
In a fascinating twist, she also happens to be the wife of George Lucas, the man who created Star Wars.
Speaking of Star Wars, the Denver Broncos officially just sold for more money than that franchise, which was sold to Disney for $4.05 billion .
In addition to these people mentioned, the Walton family will be involved in the ownership of the team. According to Mike Klis of 9News:
Source: There will be three generations of Waltons with equity stakes in Broncos. Rob Walton, his daughter and son-in-law, and one or two of Rob's grandchildren. This will be a family-run business.#9sports https://t.co/UlJ5RIRTSb
— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) June 8, 2022
There is going to be so much more to unpack from this breaking news, but for the time being, these are the primary people involved with the massive purchase of the Denver Broncos.
Notably missing from the list at this point is Peyton Manning, but we’ll see if that changes in time.