Jonathan Kraft

president, CEO, Kraft Group

Jonathan A. Kraft is the president and chief operating officer for The Kraft Group, the holding company of the Kraft family's varied business interests. He is also the president of the threetime Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. As president of the Patriots, Kraft oversees the management and strategic planning of each department within the organization. He also works closely with his father to represent the Patriots in all league matters and has served on multiple NFL owner committees. Kraft's NFL obligations are only a small part of his day-to-day responsibilities, which are as diversified as the many different companies he oversees. The Kraft Group has a variety of interests concentrated in five specific areas: the distribution of forest products, paper and packaging manufacturing, sports and entertainment, real estate development and private equity and venture investing. Kraft is responsible for overseeing the operations of each division. Since his family purchased the team in 1994, Kraft has been the day-to-day driving force behind the rebuilding and rebranding of the franchise, bringing long-overdue stability to the once wayward organization. It has been a remarkable transformation, as the Patriots have evolved from worst to first in many categories, both on and off the field. Once tenants in the league's poorest venue, the Patriots now play in one of the NFL's premier stadiums. Once last in the league in revenues, the Patriots now rank among the league's elite. Once a cellar dweller, the Patriots are now a perennial power. They are just the second team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in four years and they own the NFL's longest regular season (21), postseason (10) and overall consecutive game (21) win streaks. Since his family's purchase of the team in 1994, the Patriots have won more games (173) and more often (.655) than any other team and Kraft has successfully implemented many initiatives that have accelerated the franchise's many worst-to-first transitions. Of all the team's recent achievements, arguably the most significant contribution to the organization's future success was securing financial approval for the construction of a new world-class stadium, the first of its kind in the franchise's history. Kraft developed the creative private-financing strategy for the $325 million construction of Gillette Stadium. Many financial experts dismissed the viability of his plan, which relied on year-round club memberships for new clientele rather than the more conventional sale of private seat licenses to existing season ticket holders. Kraft's unprecedented plan was considered a financial risk, but proved to be universally successful. Throughout the stadium initiative, no one was more involved in each phase of the project, including the planning, construction, opening and ongoing operation and development of Gillette Stadium. Kraft worked closely with stadium designers to create a world-class sports and entertainment facility that would highlight features indigenous to New England. His team not only delivered on the promise of a fan-friendly facility, but did so on time and under budget. Kraft and the project team also drew praise for innovative environmental practices. In June of 2001, the Environmental Business Council presented The Kraft Group with the Environmental Award for Corporate Leadership. In May of 2002, the Kraft Group received New England's Environmental Merit Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the development and construction of Gillette Stadium. In 2002, Jonathan and Robert Kraft received the Sports Industrialists of the Year award, presented annually by Sports Business Daily. The Krafts opened the year celebrating New England's first Super Bowl championship. They christened their new stadium just a few months later, earning various awards and acclaim for the project. They negotiated a new naming rights partnership with Gillette and celebrated a spectacular grand opening by hosting the 2002 season premiere of Monday Night Football as Super Bowl champions, presenting both the stadium and their 2001 Super Bowl banner to the fans of New England. One month later, the Krafts' Major League Soccer franchise, the New England Revolution, won the Eastern Conference to qualify for the MLS Cup, which drew over 61,000 fans to Gillette Stadium, the then-largest crowd in MLS history. One of the most exciting new ventures that The Kraft Group has undertaken is the Patriot Place real estate development surrounding Gillette Stadium. Patriot Place is the first super-regional lifestyle center and entertainment complex of its kind. Prior to the Kraft family's ownership, the Patriots fan base was limited in range and scope. As a lifelong Patriots fan, Kraft was committed to expanding the Patriots' audiences through an innovative multimedia outreach. Under his directive, the Patriots became the first professional sports team to launch an official Web site in March of 1995. Just two years later, the team debuted the first use of streaming video, offering a nightly video update. Since then, streaming video has been a constant feature on the team's Web site. The technology is also used to broadcast live feeds of every Patriots press conference. The Patriots' other Internet initiatives include a highly successful e-commerce division, providing Patriots fans around the world easy access to Patriots merchandise and apparel. In 2004, the team showed their commitment to globalizing the Patriots brand when they launched the NFL's first Chinese-language version of their website. In April of 1995, the Patriots began publishing Patriots Football Weekly, the first full-color weekly publication offered by a sports team. It appears on newsstands throughout New England and is distributed to Patriots fans throughout the world. Following the Super Bowl XXXVI championship, Kraft commissioned the production of a DVD entitled "3 Games to Glory," providing fans an opportunity to re-live three of the most memorable games in franchise history. Since then, he has overseen the production of its sequels, "3 Games to Glory II," and "3 Games to Glory III," each featuring over five hours of behind-the-scenes content on a two-disc DVD set. The Patriots remain the only team to produce and sell such extensive commemorative DVDs. A Williams College graduate, Kraft also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is on the board of directors for several organizations, including the U.S. Soccer Federation, Children's Hospital Trust and Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. He is also on the board of trustees at Williams College and the Belmont Hill School and is a member of the Overseers' Committee at Harvard Business School. Kraft is active in youth athletics, coaching Pop Warner football, youth soccer and Little League baseball in the greater Boston area. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Warner Award, named after Glenn S. "Pop" Warner. The award is presented annually and is considered Pop Warner's highest national honor.