Jonathan A. Kraft
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Jonathan Ashford Kraft (born March 4, 1964) is an American businessman. He is president of
The Kraft Group The Kraft Group, LLC, is a group of privately held companies in the professional sports, manufacturing, and real estate development industries doing business in 90 countries. Founded in 1998 by American businessman Robert Kraft as a holding comp ...
, the
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
of the Kraft family's business interests. He is also the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
of the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
and investor-operator of the
New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...
.


Early life and education

Kraft was born in
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
, to a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family, one of four children of
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
owner
Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainmen ...
and his late wife
Myra Kraft Myra Hiatt Kraft (''née'' Myra Nathalie Hiatt; December 27, 1942 – July 20, 2011) was an American philanthropist and the wife of New England Patriots and New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft. Early life and education Kraft was born in W ...
. Robert Kraft is worth an estimated $4.8 billion, according to Forbes and ranked as 108th richest person in 2015. Kraft attended the
Belmont Hill School Belmont Hill School is an all-boys day and optional five-day boarding school in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The school enrolls approximately 470 boys in grades 7–12, separated into the Middle School (Forms I-III, or grades 7†...
for high school. In 1986, Kraft graduated from
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
with a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in history. He served on Williams'
board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
from 2003 until 2015. After working as a consultant at
Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and nonprofit organizations. One of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three management co ...
for two years, Kraft earned his MBA from
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
in 1990.


Professional career


New England Patriots

In 1994, Kraft helped his family create a plan to purchase the New England Patriots. Since his family's purchase of the team, Kraft has held the titles of vice president, vice chairman and president.


Role with the NFL

Within the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
, Kraft has served on multiple committees, including the Digital Media and Business Ventures committees. In March 2006, when the
National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor unions in the United States, labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive directo ...
and the NFL were deadlocked in contract negotiations, Kraft helped design a revenue sharing plan that was used for that version of the
collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
.


New England Revolution

In 1995,
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
was started. One of the inaugural teams in the league was the Revolution. Kraft has been the co-owner/investor of the Revolution, along with his father, since its inception. In 2002, the Revolution played in their first final against the Galaxy in the
MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...
in front of a record crowd of more than 61,000. The final was held at
Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States. The stadium is southwest of Downtown Boston and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and admi ...
, previously named CMGI Field, in
Foxborough, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, it is about southwest of Boston. The population was 18,618 at the 2020 census. "Foxborough" is the official spelling of th ...
. The match had a record crowd and the Revolution lost. They made four more MLS Cup appearances in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014.


Other soccer involvements

Kraft was also an owner/investor of the
San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...
from 1999 to 2000 when the Kraft Group owned the team. He has been attempting to build a Boston area soccer specific stadium unsuccessfully since 2006.


Massachusetts General Hospital

Kraft has served on the board of trustees of
Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...
since 2010 and was named chair in 2019 after the departure of Cathy Minehan.


COVID-19 pandemic

In March 2020, Kraft and his father offered the use of the
Patriots A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...
team airplane to
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
to deliver more than a million
N95 mask An N95 respirator is a disposable filtering facepiece respirator or reusable elastomeric respirator filter that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 standard of air filtration, filtering at least 95% ...
s from
Shenzhen, China Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
for use by medical professionals to help mitigate the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...
. Some of the supplies landed in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
on April 2, 2020, after several weeks of preparation.


Personal life

In 1995, Kraft married Patricia Lipoma in a Jewish ceremony at the Chestnut Hill home of his parents. She is a convert to
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
. He has three children, two sons and a daughter.


Awards and honors

*Six-time
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
champion – as an executive with the New England Patriots In 2023, ''Boston'' magazine ranked Kraft and his brothers
Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...
and Josh at number 11 on its annual list of the "most influential Bostonians", grouping these three Kraft brothers as a single entity. The following year, the magazine individually recognized on the list at #10 (with his brother Josh being recognized at #68). In 2025, he was ranked #12 (with Josh ranked at #37).


References


External links


New England Patriots profile

The Kraft Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Jonathan 1964 births Living people American chief executives American corporate directors American financiers American manufacturing businesspeople American media executives American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American businesspeople in real estate American soccer chairmen and investors Bain & Company employees Harvard Business School alumni Jewish American sports executives and administrators Kraft family Major League Soccer executives NFL team presidents New England Patriots executives New England Revolution Businesspeople from Brookline, Massachusetts Williams College alumni Belmont Hill School alumni Jews from Massachusetts