How did Dan Snyder make his money?

Longtime Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder began making his money with a marketing company named after himself, Snyder Communications. He founded the company after dropping out of the University of Maryland. After taking the business public in 1996, he sold it to French firm Havas for $2.1 billion in stock in 2000.

In May 1999, Snyder paid a then-record $800 million for the then-Washington Redskins franchise following the passing of the former owner, Jack Kent Cooke.

To make the sale a reality, Snyder sold his communications company, borrowed $340 million from a French bank, and accepted the $155 million debt on the team's stadium. After decades of debate over the native American origins of the team's name, he renamed the franchise this year to the Commanders.

Dan Snyder made waves in 2019 with his new $192 million yacht named Lady S, which has an IMAX theater on board.

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Dan Snyder since last year and the ongoing investigation by the NFL

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In July last year, the NFL fined the owner $10 million following an internal investigation into both the team and Dan Snyder. The owner stepped away from the team’s daily operations, handing control to his wife, Tanya.

The NFL declined to make its discoveries open to the public, and the House Oversight and Reform Committee launched its own investigation into Snyder.

The team paid almost $2 million to a former female employee, Tiffani Johnston, who claimed Snyder sexually assaulted her in 2009. He testified before Congress in July in a virtual, closed-doors deposition.

Under his leadership, the team's value grew upwards of 33 percent since 2021 from a value of $4.2 billion to $5.6 billion. However, it is important to note that this growth in value doesn't necessarily reflect the owner's good practices as a lot of a franchise's value is often driven by the overall market.

The recent $4.65 billion sale of the Denver Broncos set the benchmark for what an NFL team could go for. Nonetheless, the Commanders are the sixth-most valuable franchise in the NFL at $5.6 billion.

It doesn't seem the allegations levied against Dan Snyder are affecting him or the financial state of the Commanders too much.