Brad Maurice Kelley (born 1956) is an American businessman who is the 7th largest landowner in the U.S.,
with an estimated net worth of US$2.2 billion in 2018.
He founded the
Commonwealth Brands
ITG Brands, LLC is the third-largest American tobacco manufacturing company in the United States. It is a subsidiary of British multinational Imperial Brands. ITG Brands markets and sells multiple cigarette and cigar brands and sells blu eCigs ...
tobacco company in 1991 and sold the company in 2001 to
Houchens Industries
Houchens Industries is an American employee-owned company, in business since 1917 when it began as a small grocery operated by founder Ervin Houchens in rural Barren County, Kentucky. The company is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The co ...
for US$1 billion.
As of 2014, Kelley's business interests include
Calumet Farm
Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegra ...
, NC2 Media and the Center for Innovation and Technology business park.
Biography
Early life
Kelley was born in
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...
. He was raised in
Simpson County, Kentucky
Simpson County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the total population was 19,594. Its county seat is Franklin.
History
Simpson County was established in 1819 from Allen, Log ...
, and went to Franklin-Simpson High School in
Franklin, Kentucky
Franklin is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Simpson County, Kentucky, United States. The county is located on the south central border of the state, and its population was 10,176 at the 2020 census.
Kentucky Downs, formerly ...
, where he was a secretary for the
Future Farmers of America
National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...
and was named Kentucky high school conservationist of the year. He bought his first piece of land, a farm near his childhood home, at age 17, and his first warehouse at age 20. He attended
Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...
for a short period but left before the completion of his studies to pursue business interests.
Career
Kelley grew up on a farm that included tobacco, and his early business ventures were a response to changes in the
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
industry. Because of declining production in the 1980s, many old warehouses in Kentucky stood vacant. He started buying these warehouses, converting them to other uses, and then leasing them out. This interest evolved into manufacturing. In 1991, he founded Commonwealth Brands, a tobacco company that manufactured low-cost
cigarette
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...
s, headquartered in
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...
. The company was later sold in 2001 to
Houchens Industries
Houchens Industries is an American employee-owned company, in business since 1917 when it began as a small grocery operated by founder Ervin Houchens in rural Barren County, Kentucky. The company is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The co ...
for US$1 billion.
Kelley has never smoked, and he said in 2012, "I've never defended
moking Hopefully it will be phased out of society."
In May 2012, Kelley became the operator of the historic Calumet Farm in
Lexington
Lexington may refer to:
Places England
* Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington
Canada
* Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario
United States
* Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name
* Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...
. He was already involved in
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
breeding and racing operations. He was formerly the largest shareholder and a board member of
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was p ...
. In May 2013, his
colt Oxbow __NOTOC__
An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or bullock. A bow pin holds it in place.
The term " oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meander in a rive ...
won the
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Graded stakes race, Grade I race run over a distance of ...
.
Kelley owns 1.7 million acres of American
ranching land in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
and
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex
, Offi ...
.
As of 2012, he is the fourth-largest private land owner in the U.S.
In March 2013, the commercial arm of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
to Kelly's NC2 Media. Lonely Planet is the world's most successful guidebook publisher, having printed over 100 million guidebooks, in addition to magazines, digital content, and other travel services.
In January 2020, Kelley put up for sale many of his West Texas ranches, offering roughly 500,000 acres with a listing price of $404 million.
In December 2020, NC2 Media sold Lonely Planet to
Kelley is married with three children. He rarely gives interviews and does not use email. Kelley is active in the
. He supports many environmental and wildlife conservation interests, including
's Center for Conservation of Tropical Ungulates. The center supports many animal species, including
.