Forbes has described Lurie as beginning "his professional career as a social policy teacher at Boston University"[1]; specifically, he served as an adjunct assistant professor of social policy at Boston University.[when?][citation needed]
In 1983, Lurie left academia to join General Cinema Corporation,[citation needed] the conglomerate that began as an early movie theater chain (founded by his grandfather, Philip Smith).[1][4] At the time he joined, General Cinema was headed by his uncle, Richard A. Smith.[citation needed] At General Cinema, Lurie worked as an executive in the company as liaison between General Cinema and the production community in Hollywood, and as an advisor in the company's national film buying office.[citation needed]
In 1984, General Cinema acquired a minority interest in Carter Hawley Hale, at the time the tenth-largest clothing retailer in the United States, whose holdings included Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman-Marcus.[citation needed][relevant?] In 1993, its holding company, by then named Harcourt General, spun-off General Cinema as a separate company.[5] After competition forced the closure of a number of General Cinema locations,[6][7] General Cinema filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 11, 2000, with accompanying resignation of Richard A. Smith and a further employed Smith family member.[8] On December 7, 2001, AMC Theatres agreed to buy GC Companies, Inc. as part of GC's Chapter 11 reorganization plan, an acquisition completed on March 29, 2002.[9][1] Lurie departed General Cinema.[when?][verification needed]
By 1985, Lurie had also created his first film company, Chestnut Hill Productions; through it, he produced a number of feature film releases, "not necessarily considered artistic masterpieces", including Foxfire (1996), starring Angelina Jolie.[1] The company also produced television commercials.[citation needed]
Lurie's wife, Christina, has joined him as a producer in his film work,[when?] which as of 2011 was operating as Screen Pass Productions.[1] On February 27, 2011, the movie Inside Job (2010), produced by the Luries and detailing the financial crisis of 2008, won an Academy Award (Oscar) for best documentary film;[1][11][bettersourceneeded]
In a released statement, the Luries said they were “humbled” by the award.[1]
Lurie was 59 years of age, at the time.[1] Two years later, Lurie won a second Oscar when Inocente, a film that he executive produced, won for Best Documentary Short Film.[12]
Five months later, Richard Smith agreed to let his nephew buy the Philadelphia Eagles; Lurie contacted Norman Braman, then owner of the Eagles. Lurie bought the Philadelphia Eagles on May 6, 1994, from Braman for $195 million (equivalent to $414million in 2024). Lurie and his mother, Nancy Lurie Marks, the only daughter of Philip Smith, borrowed $190 million from the Bank of Boston to buy the team.[13] To back the Bank of Boston loan, Lurie put up millions of dollars worth of personal stock in Harcourt General and GC Companies Inc. as equity.[13] He and his mother also put up stock in the family trust as collateral so Lurie could borrow the rest.[13]
In 2017, Forbes valued the Eagles at $2.65 billion, ranking them 10th among NFL teams in value.[14] By 2024 this valuation had increased to $6.6 billion with the Eagles ranked 8th amongst all 32 NFL teams in value.[15] On February 4, 2018, the Eagles defeated the Patriots to win Super Bowl LII by the score of 41–33, giving Lurie his first title as Eagles owner. The victory evened the score with New England, as the previous Lurie-era Super Bowl appearance was a 24–21 loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.[16]
On February 9, 2025, the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LIX by the score of 40–22, giving Lurie his second title as Eagles' owner. The win evened the score against Kansas City (the Eagles had lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII), and denied the Chiefs' bid to become the only team to win three Super Bowls in a row.[17]
In a pre-production meeting at his film production company,[clarification needed] working on the film, I Love You To Death (1990), Lurie met Christina Weiss, a former actress who working for the company.[18] Lurie married Weiss in Gstaad, Switzerland in 1992, and they have had two children, a daughter Milena (born 1993) and a son Julian (born 1995).[18]
Lurie was said, by his wife Christina, to "lov[e] some of the [Jewish] holidays, like Passover", but was further described to have made no effort to provide a religious education for his children, and was otherwise described as a non-practicing Jew.[18]
In 2012, the Christina and Jeffrey Lurie announced that they were divorcing, a process that was finalized in August 2012.[19] On May 4, 2013, he married again, to Tina Lai.[20]
In 2020, Forbes ranked Lurie as No. 319 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.[21]
↑ By the late 1960s, General Cinema had begun acquiring bottling franchises, including a Pepsi operation.[citation needed][relevant?] General Cinema then evolved over the years to become Harcourt General Inc., a $3.7-billion conglomerate based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, with 23,700 employees worldwide.[citation needed][relevant?] In its heyday it was the nation's fourth-largest chain of movie theaters, owneing several publishing houses, three insurance companies, and a leading global consulting firm.[citation needed][relevant?]
1 2 3 Fox, Ashley (July 21, 2010). "Christina Lurie Helped Shape the Eagles Vision". Philadelphia, PA: The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 4, 2025. So after she had children—a daughter and a son...—Christina told her husband he was responsible for their religious upbringing. A non-practicing Jew, Jeffrey... did nothing. No Hebrew or Sunday school. No bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah.'He didn't feel strongly about it,' Christina... said. 'I think he feels culturally Jewish, and he loves some of the holidays, like Passover, but that's about as far as the religious education went.'
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