Joe Ricketts

Last updated
Joe Ricketts
Joe Ricketts.jpg
Ricketts in 2018
Born (1941-07-16) July 16, 1941 (age 83)
Nebraska City, Nebraska, U.S.
Education Creighton University (BA)
Occupation(s)Businessman
MLB owner/executive
Known forfounding TD Ameritrade
TitleOwner, Chicago Cubs
Political party Republican
Spouse
Marlene Volkmer
​
(m. 1963)​
[1] [2]
Children
Awards 2016 World Series champion
Website JoeRicketts.com

John Joseph Ricketts (born July 16, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the founder, former CEO and former chairman of TD Ameritrade. [3] He has an estimated net worth of US$4.1 billion as of 2024, according to Forbes . [4] He has pursued a variety of other business ventures including DNAinfo.com, High Plains Bison, The Lodge at Jackson Fork, and The American Film Company. [5] [6] Ricketts also engages in philanthropy through The Ricketts Art Foundation, Opportunity Education Foundation, The Cloisters on the Platte Foundation, and The Ricketts Conservation Foundation. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] He and his family have been the owners of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball since October 2009.

Contents

Early life

John Joseph Ricketts was born and raised in Nebraska City, Nebraska, the son of Florence M. (Erhart) and Donavon Platte Ricketts. [1] [11] He attended St. Bernard's Academy in Nebraska City, where he met his future wife Marlene Margaret (Volkmer). [1] They both graduated in 1959. [12] He obtained a bachelor's degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in 1968. [13] Joe and Marlene Ricketts have four children, Pete, Thomas, Laura, and Todd, who were raised Catholic. [14] He currently resides in Hoback Basin, Wyoming. [4]

Regarding his time in Omaha during the 1960s, Ricketts wrote in his 2019 memoir The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get [15] about "stockbrokers destroying their lives with dope, alcohol, and sex, which was just another kind of drug": [16]

Our substance of choice was beer. Beer, whatever its drawbacks, is not dope. Marlene generally did not come out for drinks on Friday at the Rookery. She went home and got supper ready for the children. Often, I did not get home in time to eat with them. I might have had twelve beers on a Friday evening. I might have had more. I'm sure there were a few nights that it was only by the grace of God that I didn't have a car accident. But it was only beer and it helped me get rid of all my pent-up stress. I got myself home, and our family and our business could press on together.

TD Ameritrade

In 1975, Ricketts and a few partners invested $12,500 each to form First Omaha Securities, a retail securities brokerage firm that through mergers and acquisitions grew into TD Ameritrade. [17] Ricketts retired from the TD Ameritrade board in October 2011 to concentrate on entrepreneurship and philanthropy. [18]

Business ventures

High Plains Bison

In 2004, Ricketts founded High Plains Bison, a retailer of natural bison meat. In addition to online and offline sales channels, High Plains Bison is the official bison vendor at Chicago's Wrigley Field. [19] Some of the bison are raised on a Wyoming ranch owned by Ricketts. A four-bedroom lodge named The Lodge at Jackson Fork Ranch is located on the same property. [20] [21] Joe Rickett's Grizzly Ridge Bison Ranch in northern Montana comes at the expense of the Blackfeet tribe's wild herd; it represents 2% of their ancestral lands, which the tribe were deprived of despite trying to buy back their own land. [22]

The American Film Company

In 2008, Ricketts founded The American Film Company, which produces feature films about true stories from American history. [23] The Conspirator is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Robert Redford. It served as the debut film of The American Film Company. [24] [25]

DNAinfo.com

In 2009, Ricketts founded DNAinfo.com, a digital news service that used to cover neighborhood news in New York City and Chicago. [26] [27] Ricketts shut it down on November 2, 2017, one week after their employees voted to unionize. [28] Gone with it were Gothamist , Chicagoist, DCist, LAist, SFist, and Shanghaiist. On November 3, 2017, archived versions of Gothamist, DNAinfo, and other sites were back up. [29] In September 2017, Ricketts wrote, "I believe unions promote a corrosive us-against-them dynamic that destroys the esprit de corps businesses need to succeed." [30]

Chicago Cubs

In October 2009, the Ricketts family acquired a 95 percent controlling interest in Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, as well as 20% of Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. The Ricketts family represents the eighth ownership group in the 133-year history of the team. While Ricketts is not directly involved in the team's operations, his son, Tom Ricketts, is Cubs chairman and his three other children (Pete, Laura and Todd) are on the board of directors. [31] In 2016, seven years after purchasing the Cubs, they won the World Series, ending a 108-year-old drought without a championship.

Political activities

Ricketts co-founded the Campaign for Primary Accountability (CPA) with Eric O'Keefe, Leo Linbeck III, and Tim Dunn. It targets both Democratic and Republican incumbents in primary elections. [32]

In 2010, Ricketts led a campaign against earmarks and what he perceived to be wasteful federal spending. [33] [34] Ricketts founded an independent organization called Taxpayers Against Earmarks that classified every Member of Congress as either a spending "hero" or "hooligan." [35]

Along with Taxpayers for Common Sense and WashingtonWatch.com, Taxpayers Against Earmarks developed a database of earmarks requested by members of Congress. [36] The group successfully pressed for a moratorium on earmarks in 2010. [37] Taxpayers Against Earmarks changed its name to Ending Spending in 2011, as part of a broadening of the group's focus. [38]

Ricketts established and funded The Ending Spending Fund, a political action committee, in 2010. [39] The Ending Spending Fund spent over $1 million sponsoring independent advertisements in several Congressional races. The goal of the advertising expenditure was to highlight incumbents' earmark-related policies. [39] [40] The Ending Spending Fund spent the largest amount of its money on the United States Senate election in Nevada, 2010 in an unsuccessful effort to defeat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Although not required by law, Ricketts willingly disclosed his identity due to his belief in transparency. [41]

Ricketts served on the board of trustees of the American Enterprise Institute from 1999 to 2007. [42] His son, Pete Ricketts, is a member of the Republican National Committee, was elected governor of Nebraska in 2014, and is currently a U.S. senator. [43] His daughter, Laura Ricketts, is a gay rights activist and prominent bundler for Barack Obama. [44] Another son, Todd Ricketts, was named CEO of Ending Spending in 2013. [45]

On May 17, 2012, The New York Times published a story by Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenberg reporting that The Ending Spending Action fund had been presented with a 54-page proposal entitled, "The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: the Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good." According to the Times, the proposal, written by a vendor seeking to be hired by Ending Spending, suggested a $10-million ad campaign to "attack President Obama in ways that Republicans have so far shied away" and called for "running commercials linking Mr. Obama to incendiary comments by his former spiritual adviser, the Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright." [46] The report came to light when an unidentified person, who was not connected to the proposal, leaked it to The New York Times. [47] The president of the Ending Spending Action Fund said that the pitch was a "nonstarter" [46] and issued the following statement repudiating the proposal: "Not only was this plan merely a proposal—one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors—but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted but only a suggestion for a direction to take." [48]

As of mid-2014, the Ending Spending SuperPac had supported only Republicans. [49]

In the 2016 presidential election, Ricketts donated at least one million dollars in support of Donald Trump. [50] Ricketts also raised funds for the Future45 Super Pac and the 45Committee, a pro-Trump 501(c)4 organization that is not required to disclose its donors. [51] During the Republican primaries, Ricketts had contributed to Our Principles PAC, a Super PAC dedicated to opposing Trump. [50] Ricketts explained his changed position citing economic grounds, stating that Hillary Clinton "represents four more years of the Obama-Clinton economic policies that continue to cripple the middle class." [52]

Together with his spouse, Ricketts contributed $2.2 million to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign. [53]

Philanthropy

Ricketts established Opportunity Education, which is a non-profit organization that empowers teachers with research-backed resources and support to help their students develop the skills they need to succeed in school and beyond. [54]

On September 26, 2013, Louisiana College president Joe W. Aguillard presented Ricketts and his brother, Jim, with two of three Trustees' Distinguished Service Awards at the annual Founder's Day chapel. [54]

Anti-Muslim and racist email controversy

On 5 February 2019, Splinter News released a cache of Ricketts emails from 2009 to 2014. He wrote that Islam could not create a civil society, that "we cannot ever let Islam become a large part of our society", and that "Muslims are naturally my (our) enemy." Included were Obama citizenship conspiracy theory emails, [55] and claims that Obama favored Islam over other religions. Also included were multiple racist "joke" emails that he received and responded to positively; including slurs against Black and Hispanic people. He apologized for the emails after they were made public. [56]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Nelson</span> American attorney & politician (born 1941)

Earl Benjamin Nelson is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 37th governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and as of 2024, is the last Democrat to hold and/or win any statewide elected office in Nebraska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium</span> Defunct baseball park in Omaha, Nebraska

Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was a baseball stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, the former home to the annual NCAA Division I College World Series and the Triple-A Omaha Royals. It was the largest minor league ballpark in the United States until its demolition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska</span>

The 2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democrat Ben Nelson won re-election to a second term, easily defeating Republican Pete Ricketts. Nelson won 63.9% of the vote to Ricketts's 36.1% Ricketts was later appointed in January 2023 to Nebraska's other Senate seat after serving as Governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Ricketts</span> American politician (born 1964)

John Peter Ricketts is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Nebraska since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 40th governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TD Ameritrade</span> American online broker

TD Ameritrade was a stockbroker that offered an electronic trading platform for the trade of financial assets. The company was founded in 1975 as First Omaha Securities. In 2006, it acquired the United States operations of TD Waterhouse from Toronto-Dominion Bank and was renamed TD Ameritrade. In 2020, TD Ameritrade was acquired by Charles Schwab Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Moglia</span> American football coach and businessman

Joseph Hugh Moglia is an American businessman and former football coach. He was head football coach at Coastal Carolina University from 2012 to 2016 and again in 2018 after spending the 2017 season on medical leave. During his tenure, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers transitioned from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). In six seasons, Coastal Carolina compiled a record of 56–22.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Bruning</span> 31st Attorney General of Nebraska

Jon Cumberland Bruning is an American politician who served as the 32nd Attorney General of Nebraska from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented the 3rd district in the Nebraska Legislature from 1997 until 2003. He was a candidate in the 2012 United States Senate election in Nebraska, losing the Republican nomination to Deb Fischer and in the 2014 Nebraska gubernatorial election, also losing the nomination to Pete Ricketts.

Gothamist is a New York City–centric blog operated by New York Public Radio. From 2003 to 2018, Gothamist LLC was the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Ricketts, owner of DNAinfo, acquired the company and, in November 2017, the websites were temporarily shut down after the newsroom staff voted to unionize. In February 2018, it was announced that New York Public Radio, KPCC and WAMU had acquired Gothamist, LAist, and DCist, respectively. Chicagoist was purchased by Chicago-born rapper Chance the Rapper in July 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas S. Ricketts</span> Chairman of the Chicago Cubs

Thomas Stuart Ricketts is the chairman of the Chicago Cubs, and the Chairman, co-founder and former CEO of Incapital LLC, a firm that provides securities firms and individual investors more efficient access to corporate bonds. Together with his sister Laura and brothers Pete and Todd, the Ricketts siblings are the board of directors for the Cubs. He is the son of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation founder J. Joseph Ricketts. Joe Ricketts has a net worth of US$2.3 billion as of 2018 according to Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Ricketts</span> American political activist

Laura Marie Ricketts is an American political activist and former attorney who is co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Red Stars. Ricketts is also a board member of Lambda Legal and the Housing Opportunities for Women organization. Ricketts' ownership stake in the Cubs makes her the first openly gay owner of a major-league sports franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Walsh (Illinois politician)</span> American politician (born 1961)

William Joseph Walsh is an American politician, talk radio host, former social worker, and former 2020 Republican Party presidential candidate, who served one term in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois's 8th congressional district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Nebraska gubernatorial election</span>

The 2014 Nebraska gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, to elect the 40th Governor of Nebraska. Republican Candidate and former COO of TD Ameritrade Pete Ricketts defeated Democratic candidate and former Regent of the University of Nebraska Chuck Hassebrook, receiving 57.2% of the vote to Hassebrook's 39.2% This was the first open seat election, and the first time a Democrat won a county for governor since 1998.

Priorities USA Action is the largest Democratic Party super PAC. Founded in 2011, it supported Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. It was the primary super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. In the 2020 presidential election, Priorities USA Action spent the third highest amount of all outside spending groups. It focuses mainly on high-dollar donors; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a major donor to the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 United States Senate election in Nebraska</span>

The 2014 United States Senate election in Nebraska took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Senator Mike Johanns did not run for re-election to a second term. Republican nominee Ben Sasse defeated Democratic nominee David Domina to succeed him.

Richard Ellis Uihlein and Elizabeth Uihlein are American billionaire businesspeople, founders of Uline and right-wing donors. Richard Uihlein is also an heir to the Schlitz brewing fortune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign</span> American political campaign

In 2016, Hillary Clinton ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. An experienced Democratic politician, Clinton served as the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and the first lady of the United States as the wife of Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. She was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, businessman Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Ricketts</span> American businessman, politician, and sports team owner (born 1969)

Todd M. Ricketts is an American businessman and politician who is a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, a member of the TD Ameritrade board of directors, and a former Republican National Committee Finance Chairman.

DNAinfo was an online newspaper that focused on neighborhood news in New York City and Chicago. It was closed down by CEO and owner Joe Ricketts in November 2017 after writers in its New York branch voted to unionize, a move to which Ricketts was opposed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska</span>

The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the three U.S. representatives from the state of Nebraska, one from each of the state's three congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Smith, Bryan (June 24, 2013). "The Ricketts Family Owns the Chicago Cubs: Who Are These People?". Chicago Magazine.
  2. ↑ LLC, Marquis Who's Who (1 July 1985). Who's Who in Finance and Industry, 1985-1986. Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ISBN   9780837903248 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "Yahoo Finance: AMTD". Yahoo Finance.
  4. 1 2 "J. Joe Ricketts". Forbes. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  5. ↑ Pompeo, Joe (July 31, 2012). "Inside billionaire Joe Ricketts' dreams of media empire" . Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  6. 1 2 Lach, Eric (May 18, 2012). "Who Is Joe Ricketts?". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  7. ↑ Nohr, Emily; Hammel, Paul (January 12, 2015). "Joe Ricketts envisions Sarpy County religious retreat open to all". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
  8. ↑ "Ricketts Art Foundation, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and the Museum of Mountain Man Launch Online Catalogue of Alfred Jacob Miller's Western Paintings". PR Newswire. 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  9. ↑ Koshmrl, Mike (2013-10-04). "Rancher-philanthropist steps in to study loons" . Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  10. ↑ Sullivan, Sean (2014-04-10). "Meet the super PAC both Republicans and Democrats should fear" . Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  11. ↑ "Obituary: Florence M. (Erhart) Ricketts, 95, of Omaha".
  12. ↑ Southern Nebraska Register (18 November 2016). "Lourdes Central honors alumni on World Series Win". Catholic Diocese of Lincoln. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  13. ↑ Highbeam, May 1999
  14. ↑ "Lesbian makes history as Cubs owner". Windy City Times . 2009-11-01. Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  15. ↑ "Book excerpt: "The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get" by Joe Ricketts". CBS News. November 2, 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  16. ↑ Klion, David (November 5, 2019). "The Heartland Billionaire Destroying the Working Class". Gen (Medium). Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  17. ↑ Doebele, Justin (July 5, 1999). "The Next Charles Schwab?". Forbes .
  18. ↑ McCrank, John (September 16, 2016). "UPDATE 2-Ricketts retires from TD Ameritrade board". Reuters.
  19. ↑ Vettel, Phil (May 6, 2010). "Wrigley has 'em buffaloed". Chicago Tribune.
  20. ↑ "Lodge at Jackson Fork Ranch - Greater Yellowstone Geotourism Mapguide".
  21. ↑ Dyk, Deirdre Van (June 15, 2009). "Cowboy Up! Rugged Western Trips for Office Drones". Time. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009.
  22. ↑ Sierra, Cistone (June 29, 2022). "The billionaire blocking off Montana's wildlife". The Guardian.
  23. ↑ Malanowski, Jamie (April 8, 2011). "TD Ameritrade's Founder Produces Historical Film". The New York Times.
  24. ↑ Kaufman, Anthony (September 12, 2010). "Toronto Film Festival: Robert Redford on 'The Conspirator'". Wall Street Journal.
  25. ↑ Cieply, Michael (September 15, 2010). "Redford's Film Is Picked Up in Toronto". ArtsBeat.
  26. ↑ Flamm, Matthew (December 5, 2010). "Billionaire puts wager on really local online news". Crain's New York Business.
  27. ↑ Gillette, Felix (May 19, 2010). "Three Birds, a Billionaire and the Hyper-Local Future of News". Observer.
  28. ↑ Newman, Andy; Leland, John (November 2, 2017). "DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shutting Down". New York Times.
  29. ↑ Yanofsky, David (November 3, 2017). "DNAInfo's and Gothamist's archives still exist and are likely to be resurrected". Quartz.
  30. ↑ "Why I'm Against Unions At Businesses I Create | Joe Ricketts". blog.joericketts.com. Archived from the original on 2017-11-05. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  31. ↑ "Ricketts Family Assumes Control of Chicago Cubs". cubs.mlb.com. Chicago Cubs. October 30, 2009. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
  32. ↑ "Where Irish American Eric O'Keefe treads, incumbent politicians tremble". irishcentral.com. Irish Central LLC. April 12, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  33. ↑ Politico Archived 2012-03-27 at the Wayback Machine , Sept 2010
  34. ↑ Politico, Nov 2010
  35. ↑ NYTimes The Caucus, Sept 2010
  36. ↑ Manu Raju, Study: 39,294 earmarks sought, Politico (December 6, 2010).
  37. ↑ Jennifer Reingold, Joe Ricketts: The new billionaire political activist, Fortune (September 21, 2012).
  38. ↑ Rachel Finkel, Ending Spending Action Fund, FactCheck.org (April 1, 2014).
  39. 1 2 Omaha.com, Nov 2010
  40. ↑ Gibson, Jake, "New TV ad by 'The Ending Spending Fund' Targets Reid over Earmarks" Archived 2012-02-16 at the Wayback Machine , Foxnews.com, October 28, 2010.
  41. ↑ Terkel, Amanda (2010-10-22). "The One-Person Funded Super PAC: How Wealthy Donors Can Skirt Campaign Finance Restrictions". Huffington Post.
  42. ↑ "article - AEI".
  43. ↑ Saletan, William (17 May 2012). "The Wrath of Cons, A proposed super-PAC assault on Obama exposes the right's rage". Slate .
  44. ↑ Blake, Aaron, and Sandhya Somashekhar, "Joe Ricketts, a wealthy donor, getting attention in presidential contest", Washington Post, May 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  45. ↑ Sullivan, Sean (10 April 2014). "Meet the super PAC both Republicans and Democrats should fear". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  46. 1 2 Mak, Tim (2012-05-18). "Ricketts' aide: Jeremiah Wright plan was DOA". Politico. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  47. ↑ Zeleny, Jeff; Jim Rutenberg (2012-05-17). "G.O.P. 'Super PAC' Weighs Hard-Line Attack on Obama". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  48. ↑ Burns, Alexander (2012-05-17). "Ricketts flack says Wright attack plan has been rejected". Politico. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  49. ↑ Overby, Peter (September 1, 2014). "A Political Family, Funding And Running On Both Sides Of The Aisle". NPR. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  50. 1 2 Gold, Matea (20 September 2016). "After opposing Trump in the primaries, Joe Ricketts will give at least $1 million to support him". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  51. ↑ Vogel, Kenneth (28 September 2016). "Secret money to boost Trump". Politico. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  52. ↑ Politico, Sept 2016
  53. ↑ "Here Are The Billionaires Who Donated To Donald Trump's 2020 Presidential Campaign". Forbes. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  54. 1 2 "Lee Guidry, Louisiana College honors 3 for distinguished service, September 26, 2013". Alexandria Daily Town Talk . Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  55. ↑ Draper, Kevin (2019-02-05). "Cubs Owners Reel After Emails of Family Patriarch Come Out". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  56. ↑ "Cubs patriarch Joe Ricketts apologizes for leaked emails that said 'Muslims are naturally my enemy'". sports.yahoo.com. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.