Robert Kraft
CEO of the New England Patriots
| Date of Birth | : | 05 Jun, 1941 |
| Place of Birth | : | Brookline, Massachusetts, United States |
| Profession | : | Businessman, Entrepreneur |
| Nationality | : | American |
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Robert Kraft is an American industrialist, sportsman, founder (1998) of the Kraft Group (a holding company for a wide range of companies), and owner of the New England Patriots gridiron football team. Under Kraft’s ownership, the Patriots became the most consistently successful franchise in the National Football League (NFL).
Biography
Kraft’s father ran a small business in the clothing trade. After the younger Kraft earned a bachelor’s degree (1963) at Columbia University and an M.B.A. (1965) at Harvard Business School, he went to work at Rand-Whitney, a manufacturer of paper packaging that was controlled by his father-in-law, Jacob Hiatt. Kraft bought out half of Hiatt’s interest in 1968 and took complete control in 1972. In 1972 he founded International Forest Products to trade in wood, pulp, and paper products. He created the Kraft Group in 1998 as a holding company for Rand-Whitney, International Forest Products, and his family’s other interests, most notably in the field of sports.
Early life
Kraft was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of Sarah Bryna (Webber) and Harry Kraft, a dress manufacturer in Boston's Chinatown. His mother was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia; his father was a lay leader at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline and wanted his son to become a rabbi. The Krafts were a Modern Orthodox Jewish family. Robert attended the Edward Devotion School and graduated from Brookline High School. As a child, he sold newspapers outside of Braves Field in Boston. During high school, Kraft was unable to participate in most sports because it interfered with his after-school Hebrew studies and observance of the Sabbath.
Business career
Kraft began his professional career with the Rand-Whitney Group, a Worcester-based packaging company run by his father-in-law Jacob Hiatt. In 1968, he gained control of the company through a leveraged buyout. Kraft remains the chairman. In 1972, he founded International Forest Products, a trader of physical paper commodities. The two combined companies make up the largest privately held paper and packaging companies in the United States.[citation needed] Kraft has stated that he started the company out of a hunch that the increase in international communications and transportation would lead to an expansion of global trade in the late twentieth century.
Personal life
In June 1963, Kraft married Myra Nathalie Hiatt, a 1964 graduate of Brandeis University and the daughter of the late Worcester, Massachusetts, businessman and philanthropist Jacob Hiatt. She died on July 20, 2011, of ovarian cancer, at the age of 68. The Krafts were members of Temple Emanuel in Newton, Massachusetts. A patch bearing Kraft's initials (MHK) appeared on the Patriots' uniform jersey throughout the 2011 season. The couple had four sons: Jonathan A. Kraft, Daniel A. Kraft, Joshua M. Kraft, and David H. Kraft.
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