How did Stan Kroenke make his money? Delving into Rams, Nuggets owner's financial background

American businessman and sports team owner Stan Kroenke is the patriarch of one of the world's largest privately owned sports empires. Kroenke is a savvy businessman, astute investor and a regular attendee of some of sport's biggest games.

In this piece, we will look at how Kroenke made his money, the franchises he bankrolled and a handful of lesser-known facts about the billionaire. So without further ado, let's get into it.

How did Stan Kroenke make his money?

Stan Kroenke is worth an estimated $12.9 billion, according to Forbes, and that makes him one of the wealthiest men in America. Kroenke made his money through various intelligent business moves, and we will touch upon them briefly.

In 1983, Kroenke founded the Kroenke Group, a real estate development firm. The move came just under a decade after he married into the wealthiest family (the Waltons of Walmart fame) in the world and effectively fast-tracked his path into extreme wealth. To be clear, many of the Kroenke Group's shopping centers featured Walmarts, a strategy that only added to the family's empire worth a combined $224.5 billion.

His next venture was starting another real estate development firm called THF Realty in 1991. The company owns several companies across half of the United States while maintaining ties with Walmart. Today it is worth more than $2 billion.

Furthermore, Kroenke is also a serial investor in sports teams, as evidenced by his ownership of the NBA team Denver Nuggets, NFL side Los Angeles Rams and EPL team Arsenal FC.

All of the above teams have experienced success over the past decade. The Rams won last year's Super Bowl, the Nuggets recently won the 2023 NBA finals, and Arsenal FC has won many FA Cups over the past decade. All of these wins have helped increase the worth of his sports teams, thus skyrocketing his net worth in the process.

Five Facts about Stan Kroenke that you should know

Here are five lesser-known facts about Stan Kroenke that you should have on your palm.

• Stan Kroenke is a significant landowner with over 1.5 million acres of ranches across the U.S. and Canada.
• He owns around 60 million square feet of real estate and many shopping plazas near Walmart stores.
• His sports empire includes the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and Arsenal FC.
• He is a real estate and sports mogul with an international portfolio.
• He owns the Los Angeles Rams and moved back to California from St. Louis in 2016.