NFL now has a new owner within its ranks as Josh Harris’ record-setting $6.05 billion deal received unanimous approval from league owners last month.
Joshua Jordan Harris is a US investor and co-founder of Apollo Global Management. He’s the managing partner for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.
Numerous enthusiasts are likely elated that the team has transitioned to a different proprietor than Dan Snyder. Throughout Snyder’s 24-year ownership tenure, his franchise remained unable to secure a spot in the NFC Championship Game. Yet, of greater significance, off-the-field incidents cast a somber cloud over the organization.
Harris, 58, reportedly boasts a net worth of $7.69 billion, as indicated by Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, “Josh Harris also owns stakes in sports and entertainment ventures including the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team and New Jersey Devils NHL team through his firm Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. His stake is calculated at 51% given his role as managing partner in those teams. Their value is based on transaction data for comparable teams and data from Sportico, a valuations service.”
Ranked among the elite group of the world’s 300 wealthiest individuals, Harris unquestionably holds the means to secure ownership of the franchise. His track record of overseeing franchises across various sectors adds an anticipated and positive element to the sports landscape of D.C.
With these credentials, he aspires to guide the Commanders toward their first Super Bowl in more than three decades.
Early Life and Education
Born in December 1964 in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Harris’ upbringing was intertwined with several sports, which he attributes to fostering the work ethic that would shape his later life endeavors. Among these, wrestling emerged as his favorite, a sentiment rooted in his victory at a summer camp tournament when he was just nine years old.
Harris completed his education at The Field School in Washington D.C. in 1982 and embarked on academic pursuits at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences. Intrigued by statistics, Harris switched to the Wharton School during his freshman year, eventually achieving summa cum laude honors upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1986.
During his time as a student, Harris was an active member of both the Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities. On the sports front, he represented the Penn Quakers in collegiate wrestling. Notably, even during his freshman and sophomore summer breaks, he demonstrated his entrepreneurial spirit by managing lemonade stands, including one situated at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.