All-Star Billionaires

When the exciting world of sports comes to your mind, we think of the athletes alone; the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo with his expertly groomed hair or the highly competitive Serena Williams often jog the mind when the topic of sports comes to play. Lebron James and Tom Brady are a few more notable players who have won world records and donned posters all over the world.
Aside from the fame that these athletes have gained, has anyone ever considered just how well their teams’ owners have fared? In fact, these sorts of businessmen may just be the richest in the industry. Who are they and what got them to where they are now? Keep reading to know their names, their stories, and the money that makes the world of sports go around from the NBA to the MLB and all else in consideration.

Drew Carey
Net worth: $165 million
Owns: Seattle Sounders

Drew Carey is popular to the public eye for his work as a comedian and a notable TV figure, but not many realize that he owns a sports team, too! He had reportedly made a huge investment in the Seattle Sounders soccer team. The Cleveland-born personality first served in the Marine Corps before he began his career in standup comedy.
Some time after his foray into standup comedy commenced, he played the lead in his own sitcom entitled The Drew Carey Show before moving on to hosting TV shows. One of his more popular TV hosting gigs was on the improv comedy sketch show Whose Line Is It Anyway? He now hosts the CBS TV game show The Price is Right.

Bill Murray
Net worth: $140 million
Owns: St. Paul Saints

Bill Murray may be known for his comedy career and his acting work, but he also shares ownership of the St. Paul Saints baseball team. The Illinois-born celebrity earned his fame on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live where he got his first Emmy Award. He would soon move on to the film industry, acting in movies like Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, What About Bob?, Stripes, and several others.
He would eventually adopt more serious film roles, earning himself a Golden Globe Award, his first Oscar nomination, and a BAFTA Award for his work on the film Lost in Translation. He is a recurring actor in several of Wes Anderson’s movies.

David Letterman
Net worth: $400 million
Owns: Rahal Letterman Lanigan IndyCar Racing Team

The “king of the late night” TV host David Letterman has retired from the TV scene, and now, he hosts a popular Netflix show where he talks with celebrities. He is also the man behind the production company Worldwide Pants which has produced shows like The Late Late Show and the beloved sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.
Besides these successful ventures, he is also the owner of the Ohio-based Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing which boasts of a self-titled auto racing team that competes in the United SportsCar Championship, formerly known as the American Le Mans Series, and in the NTT IndyCar Series.

Stan Kroenke
Net worth: $8.8 billion
Owns: Los Angeles Rams (NFL), Colorado Rapids (MLS), and Arsenal F.C. (Premier League)

Owning several winning sports teams does help to make Stan Kroenke extremely wealthy. Besides his extensive work in the world of sports, Kroenke also gets his money from his work in the real estate field and from his own winery called the Screaming Eagle.
The business mogul is now 71 years old and is married to Ann Walton-Kroenke, who will inherit the Walmart wealth. There’s no doubt that their wealth together makes them incredibly powerful.

Jeanie Marie Buss
Net worth: $500 million
Owns: Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)

Jeanie Marie Buss knows her way around the world of sports. She not only serves as the owner and president of one of the most popular basketball teams in the world, but she also owns WOW (Women of Wrestling) and has worked with several sports teams throughout her career.
One of the highlights of her ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers is the competitive struggle to sign NBA celebrity LeBron James over to her team. James would eventually agree to play with the Lakers, signifying one of the best modern legacies of the sport in history.

Harold Steinbrenner
Net worth: $3.2 billion
Owns: New York Yankees

The name Harold Steinbrenner may sound familiar, and you’re not wrong about that. Harold “Hal” Steinbrenner became the managing general partner and co-chairman of the New York Yankees in 2008 and later the team’s principal owner in 2010 when his father, George, bequeathed it to him and his brother Hank.
Besides his responsibilities as the Yankees’ principal owner, Steinbrenner also serves as chairman and CEO of Steinbrenner Hotel Properties which sold three north Florida hotels for an estimated total price of $31 million in 2015. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America of Tampa Bay and enjoys his pastime piloting his private airplanes.

Tim McGraw
Net worth: $85 million
Owns: Nashville Kats

Tim McGraw is a ridiculously popular American guitar-playing country singer who has since spent his whole career successfully releasing fifteen studio albums, winning three Grammy Awards, fourteen ACM Awards, eleven CMA awards, ten AMAs, and three People’s Choice Awards. He also takes credit for holding one of the country’s highest-grossing concert tours of all time.
Despite his prominent country music career, not a lot of people know that McGraw has made an investment in the AFL team Nashville Kats. The artist has had a thing for football, and he and retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre would often collaborate to host several charity events.

Jeffrey Lurie
Net worth: $2.1 billion
Owns: Philadelphia Eagles (NFL)

Media tycoon Jeffrey Lurie is the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles which he bought from Norman Braman for about $195 million. He and his mother had actually borrowed the sale money from the Bank of Boston after they put in some of their own investment money worth only $5 million.
Aside from this venture, Lurie is also a known movie producer who has worked on movies like The Blind Side, Malibu Shoes, Sergio, Inside Job, Inocente, Sweet Hearts, Dance, and several others. He managed to buy the Eagles by selling his own stocks in the Harcourt General and GG Cos. Inc. companies, which were two finance firms that he made investments in.

Gene Simmons
Net worth: $350 million
Owns: LA KISS

Musician and songwriter Gene Simmons, popularly known as “The Demon” to his fans, is noted for his work as the lead singer of KISS, a rock band he and Paul Stanley created. The performer is famous for his opinions on a lot of things and his reality television shows featuring his family, as well as a brief stint on CSI where he portrayed himself.
He started his own production company called Erebus Pictures, but this venture wasn’t his only one. Simmons is also the owner of the AFL team LA KISS that is based in Florida and coached by Omarr Smith, replacing the LA Avengers in the league.

Shaquille O’Neal
Net worth: $400 million
Owns: Sacramento Kings

Seven-footer NBA player Shaquille O’Neal is considered to be one of the best players of his time, being chosen for fifteen All-Star Games, three Finals MVP awards, and fourteen All-NBA team picks, among several other distinctions. He became the host of the TV show Inside the NBA on TNT after retiring from the league
He shares ownership of the Sacramento Kings where he uses his own experiences on the court to make wise choices for the team. He is one of several retired athletes, like Michael Jordan, who own teams after their last days on the court.