Josh Harris | |
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Born | Joshua Jordan Harris December 1964 (age 59) Chevy Chase, Maryland, U.S. |
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Spouse | Marjorie Harris (m. 1995) |
Children | 5 |
Joshua Jordan Harris (born December 1964) is an American investor, sports team owner, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and a managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL's New Jersey Devils, and the NFL's Washington Commanders. Harris is also a general partner of the English football club Crystal Palace and owns a minority stake in Joe Gibbs Racing. He has an estimated net worth of around US$9 billion.
Harris was born and raised in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He graduated with a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 before earning an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS), working two years at the former investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert in between. He founded Apollo with Leon Black and Marc Rowan in 1990 and helped manage its daily operations until leaving in 2022 to focus on sports investments, done frequently in partnership with David Blitzer.
Harris headed investment groups that acquired the 76ers in 2011, the Devils and the Prudential Center in 2013, and the Commanders and Commanders Field in 2023. Other companies founded by him include Harris Philanthropies in 2014, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment with Blitzer in 2017, and the alternative assets firm 26North in 2022. Harris sits on the board of the Mount Sinai Health System, Wharton, and HBS, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and formerly served as treasurer of the Allen-Stevenson School.
Joshua Jordan Harris was born in December 1964 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. [1] [2] He grew up in Chevy Chase playing several sports and considers them as having developed his work ethic. He cited his favorite as wrestling after winning a summer camp tournament at the age of nine. [3] Harris enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences in 1982 after graduating from The Field School in Washington, D.C. [2] [4] He transferred to the university's Wharton School of business as a freshman due to his affinity for statistics, and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1986. [2] [5] [6] As a freshman, Harris represented the Penn Quakers as a 118-pound collegiate wrestler and once matched with future Olympic gold medalist Bobby Weaver. [4] He is also a member of the Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities. [2] [3] He managed lemonade stands in Washington, D.C., in locations such as Farragut North station and the National Zoo during his freshman and sophomore summer vacations. [2] [7]
Harris moved to New York City in 1986 to work at the Wall Street investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert as a financial analyst in their mergers and acquisitions department. [3] [8] He left after two years to attend Harvard Business School (HBS), graduating with an MBA in 1990 as a Baker Loeb Scholar, an honor given to the top 5% of the school's departing class. [9] The same year, Drexel filed for bankruptcy due to engaging in illegal junk bond activity amid an ongoing recession. Harris worked two months at Blackstone before leaving to establish the private equity firm Apollo Global Management with former Drexel partners Leon Black and Marc Rowan later that year. [9] In 2008, Harris led a $2 billion investment into the multinational chemical company LyondellBasell in 2008, which he sold in November 2013 for a profit of $9.6 billion, one of the largest gains in private equity history. [10] [11] In April 2009, Harris was ordered to pay $30 million in a settlement to Huntsman Corporation after Apollo was sued for backing out of a merger with them the previous year. [12]
Harris was among several businessmen in 2017 that met with the Trump administration as advisors for their $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, with Trump advisor Jared Kushner considering him for a potential White House job. [13] In May 2021, he announced he was stepping down from his day-to-day responsibilities at Apollo after being passed over as CEO for Marc Rowan, with his large personal focus on sports investments also reportedly becoming a source of tension within the company. [14] The position had been made available after Leon Black announced he would be stepping down due to an investigation finding he had paid $158 million to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for advice on taxes and estate planning. [15] He stepped down as senior managing director at Apollo in January 2022 and remained on their board of directors until his term ended in October. [14] [16] The same year, Black included Harris in a civil racketeering lawsuit, alleging that he led a group within Apollo attempting to tarnish his reputation after his ties to Epstein were reported. [17] Harris denied the claims, with federal judge Paul Engelmayer dismissing the suit that June for lack of evidence. [18] Black would appeal before the dismissal was upheld in March 2023. [17] Harris founded the alternative asset firm 26North in September 2022, [19] with it holding $9.5 billion in assets by the end of the year. [20]
Harris is on the board of trustees of Mount Sinai Health System, Wharton, and Harvard Business School, [21] and serves on the Council on Foreign Relations. [22] He previously served on the Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets for the New York Federal Reserve, [23] as vice president and treasurer of the Allen-Stevenson School, [24] and on the board of the United States Olympic Committee. [22] His family office, HRS Management, was the largest investor in the American political newspaper The Hill until selling to Nexstar Media Group in August 2021. [25] In 2022, Harris invested $10 million in the Philadelphia-based real estate company Mosaic Development Partners and formed a joint venture with Canvas Property Group through HMS Management with the stated goal of buying more than $1 billion worth of properties. [26] [27] In 2023, he and investors Mark Penn, James Tisch, and Thomas Peterffy contributed $50 million to a startup fund for The Messenger , a now defunct American news website. [28] [29]
Harris began contemplating investing in sports after meeting senior Blackstone executive David Blitzer in 2008 while working in London. [30] [31] Those talks led to the pair forming an investment group that, in 2011, bought the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from Comcast Spectacor for $280 million. [32] Other minor investors included Art Wrubel, Jason Levien, Adam Aron, Martin Geller, David Heller, James Lassiter, Marc Leder, Michael Rubin, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Erick Thohir. [33] [34] Harris presided over an era in 76ers history known as "The Process", in which the team tanked for better NBA draft lottery odds. [35] [36] Supporting a plan formed by general manager Sam Hinkie, the 76ers went 19–63 during the 2013–14 season, [37] 18–64 in 2014–15, [38] and 10–72 in 2015–16, the latter being the third-worst record in NBA history. [39] The Process was unpopular with NBA executives and team owners, who lobbied league commissioner Adam Silver to step in due to the 76ers' poor performance affecting league revenue sharing. [40] [41] Harris would eventually agree to a suggestion by Silver to hire Jerry Colangelo, former owner of the Phoenix Suns, as team chairman in December 2015 with Hinkie stepping down in April 2016. [40] [42] 2014 draft selection and future NBA MVP Joel Embiid were among the players taken during the era, with the team having made five straight postseason appearances starting with the 2017–18 season. [43] [39] The 76ers were valuated at $4.13 billion by Sportico in 2023. [44]
In 2013, Harris and Blitzer bought the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and their arena, the Prudential Center, from Jeff Vanderbeek for $320 million. [45] The franchise was valuated at $1.17 billion by Sportico in 2023, with the Prudential Center grossing $85 million in 2022, ranking it among the highest-grossing arenas globally. [46] [47] He bought an 18% stake in the English football club Crystal Palace in December 2015, which is operated as a general partnership alongside Blitzer, Steve Parish, and John Textor. [48] [49] In September 2016, Harris and Blitzer bought the esports organizations Dignitas and Apex Gaming through the 76ers and merged them under the Dignitas brand. [50] In September 2017, the pair founded Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) to consolidate their sports ventures. [51] The company was valuated by Forbes at $11.86 billion in 2024. [52] In addition to the 76ers and Devils, HBSE also owns the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League and the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League, HBSE Real Estate, the venture capital firm HBSE Ventures, [53] and the event and marketing firm Elevate Sports Ventures. [54] In June 2020, Harris and Blitzer bought a combined $140 million stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). [55] In 2022, he headed a group consisting of Blitzer, airline executive Martin Broughton, politician and Olympic gold medalist Sebastian Coe, tennis player Serena Williams, and racing driver Lewis Hamilton that pursued a bid to purchase Chelsea of the Premier League before it was sold to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital for €4.25 billion ($4.5 billion). [56] [57] He also pursued a bid the same year for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) before it was sold to Steve Cohen for $2.4 billion. [58] [59] In 2023, Harris and Blitzer explored buying stakes in the English football club Manchester United. [60]
In 2023, Harris headed a group that purchased the NFL's Washington Commanders and Commanders Field from Daniel Snyder for $6.05 billion, the highest price ever paid for a sports team. [61] [62] The group has 20 limited partners, including Danaher and Glenstone founder Mitchell Rales, Hall of Fame basketball player and entrepreneur Magic Johnson, and D.C. entrepreneur Mark Ein. [63] [64] Harris and Johnson had bid on the NFL's Denver Broncos the previous year before it was sold to a group headed by Walmart heirs Rob Walton and Greg Penner. [65] [66] He was the third limited partner of the Steelers since 2012 to become majority owner of another NFL team, joining Jimmy Haslam of the Cleveland Browns and David Tepper of the Carolina Panthers. [67] Around the same time, he bought a minority stake in Joe Gibbs Racing by way of HBSE. [68] Harris and Blitzer have also invested in youth sports, forming the parent company Unrivaled Sports in March 2024 with an investment from The Chernin Group. [69] Assets owned include All Star Village, a youth baseball brand founded by MLB Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., [70] We Are Camp, an Oregon-based sports camp operator managed in partnership with snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, [71] the ForeverLawn Sports Complex at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, [72] YTH Sports, a soccer event organizer, [73] and Diamond Nation, a baseball and softball facility in Flemington, New Jersey. [74]
Harris employs general managers to operate his teams and venues, with diversity, equity, and inclusion, and player empowerment being promoted within his workplace culture. [7] [39] [75] Harris also invests heavily in sports science and analytics, with 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey being a leading proponent of the field. [76] [77] In March 2020, Harris introduced plans to reduce salaries of HBSE, 76ers, and Devils employees making under $100,000 by 20% due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, which saw the NBA and NHL suspend operations for most of 2020. [78] He reverted the decision within a week after receiving public criticism, including an effort by 76ers All-Star player Joel Embiid to cover the losses of those affected. [78] [79]
Team | League | Acquired | Notes |
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Philadelphia 76ers | National Basketball Association | 2011 | Managing partner under Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) with David Blitzer. Includes the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. |
New Jersey Devils | National Hockey Association | 2013 | Managing partner under HBSE with David Blitzer. Includes the Prudential Center and the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. |
Crystal Palace F.C. | Premier League | 2015 | General partner with Steve Parish, John Textor, and David Blitzer; 18% stake. |
Joe Gibbs Racing | NASCAR | 2023 | Limited partner under HBSE with Joe Gibbs and David Blitzer. |
Washington Commanders | National Football League | Managing partner; includes Commanders Field. |
Harris is Jewish. [76] [80] His father Jacob was an orthodontist and his mother Sylvia was a schoolteacher; he has a younger brother named Gabe. [7] [81] He married Marjorie Harris (née Rubin) in 1995. [9] [82] The couple met while attending Harvard Business School and have had three sons and two daughters together; Hannah, Stuart, Thomas, Pierce, and Bridget. [83] [84] Harris and fellow Chevy Chase native and businessman Mark Ein have been close friends since elementary school; they later attended Wharton and Harvard together and shared beach houses on Long Island during their time working on Wall Street. [2] [31]
Harris grew up a fan of local sports teams, attending Washington Redskins games at RFK Stadium and Washington Bullets games at the Capital Centre with his family. [2] [83] [85] Harris received the Outstanding American Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013. [86] He also competes in marathons and triathlons, finishing the 2010 New York City Marathon in 3:53:41 and the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon in 3:48:12. [9] [87] [88] Harris threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals game in September 2023. [89]
Harris was inducted into Kappa Beta Phi, a Wall Street fraternity, in 2011. [90] In November 2017, he bought the Dommerich Mansion, a 21,000-square-foot townhouse in the Upper East Side of New York City, for $52 million. [91] In July 2021, he bought a 9,100-square-foot mansion in Miami Beach from Marcelo Claure for $32 million. [92] Harris frequently uses private helicopters to attend games. Due to a scheduling error, he once caused the cancellation of a youth soccer match being held at Newark's St. Benedict's Preparatory School, as the field is sometimes used as a helipad. [93] His net worth was estimated in early 2024 to be $8.5 billion by Forbes and $10.2 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index . [94] [95] He held $2.54 billion in Apollo shares as of June 2023 [update] . [96]
Harris and his wife founded Harris Philanthropies, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, in 2014. [97] [98] He established the $5 million Harris Center for Precision Wellness at New York's Icahn Genomics Institute in 2015. [99] Between 2015 and 2020, Harris donated a total of $3.5 million to the Philadelphia Police Athletic League chapter, $648,950 to the Republican Party, and $190,150 to the Democratic Party. [100] [101] He has been partnered with After-School All-Stars since 2016, providing a $1 million grant for six schools in Newark, Philadelphia, and Camden. [102] Harris has also supported the University of Pennsylvania with several donations and sponsorships, including $1 million to the Penn Quakers wrestling program, forming the Harris Family Endowed Scholarship program for undergraduate students from the nearby Washington, D.C., area, and establishing the $10 million Harris Family Alternative Investments program. [6] [103] He has also participated in forums and panels hosted by organizations such as the Milken Institute, the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. [104] [105] [106]
Harris has contributed to socioeconomic programs in Israel through sports, including founding a youth basketball league known as the 48ers and funding a project integrating Ethiopian immigrants. [107] [108] He donated more than $7 million worth of food, medical supplies, and COVID-19-related equipment to several Philadelphia-based groups and organizations by April 2020. [109] [110] [111] HBSE committed $20 million to fight racial injustice in wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests. [112] Harris donated $2 million the same year to The Bridgespan Group to expand their nonprofit programs in Philadelphia and Camden. [97] In 2022, he established the $5 million Harris Family Fund for Sports Management and Alternative Investments program at Harvard Business School, [113] as well as donating to the Reform Alliance, [114] several Philadelphia-area homeless shelters, [115] and mobile cancer clinics toward the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. [116] The same year, he donated $1 million to Fund for Health, a health inequity collaboration fund by Penn Med and Wharton, with another million to Penn Med to promote student diversity in clinical medicine and biomedical research. [117] [118]
The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at the Wells Fargo Center located in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Founded in 1946 and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA and one of only eight of the 23 to survive the league's first decade. The team is owned and managed by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), with founders Josh Harris and David Blitzer acquiring the team in 2011.
Commanders Field is an American football stadium located in Landover, Maryland, 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Washington, D.C. The stadium is the home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 until 2010, it had the NFL's largest seating capacity: over 91,000. By 2023, the capacity had been reduced to approximately 65,000. The stadium is owned and operated by the Commanders, with non-NFL events being managed by team owner Josh Harris's company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE). The stadium opened in 1997 as Jack Kent Cooke Stadium and from 1999 to 2024 it was known as FedExField. FedEx relinquished its naming rights to the stadium in 2024, and the franchise temporarily applied the team name to the stadium while seeking a new sponsor.
Daniel Marc Snyder is an American businessman who formerly owned the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team, then known as the Redskins, from the estate of Jack Kent Cooke in 1999. Snyder is widely considered to be one of the worst owners in the history of professional sports, with the team managing only two playoff wins and six playoff appearances in his 24 years of ownership.
The Delaware Blue Coats are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Wilmington, Delaware, and are affiliated with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Blue Coats play their home games at Chase Fieldhouse. The team was founded in 2007 as the Utah Flash and served as an affiliate to the Utah Jazz. In April 2013, the 76ers acquired the team and relocated it to Delaware, where it played as the Delaware 87ers until 2018. The team moved to the Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2018 and were rebranded as the Delaware Blue Coats. As with the Sixers, the Blue Coats are owned by Josh Harris and David Blitzer under Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE). The team won the 2022–23 G League championship.
Dignitas is an American esports organization based in Newark, New Jersey. It was founded by Michael "ODEE" O'Dell in 2003 as a merger of two Battlefield 1942 clans. Dignitas was acquired by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016 and is now a part of parent company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE). The team is best known for its League of Legends, Rocket League, Fortnite, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squads.
Michael Gary Rubin is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of Fanatics, a global digital sports platform that consists of several businesses, including licensed sports merchandise, trading cards and collectibles, sports betting and iGaming, special events, and live commerce. He is also a board member of Rue Gilt Groupe, which includes RueLaLa.com, Gilt.com, and ShopPremiumOutlets.com. He previously founded GSI Commerce in 1998, selling it to eBay in 2011 for $2.4 billion.
Erick Thohir is an Indonesian businessman and politician who has served as Indonesia's Minister of State Owned Enterprises since 2019 and chairman of Football Association of Indonesia since 2023. He is the founder of Mahaka Group, a conglomeration that focuses on media, sports and entertainment. Globally known as the former owner and chairman of Italian football giant Inter Milan and US soccer club D.C. United, Thohir is currently co-owner alongside Anindya Bakrie of English League One team Oxford United and Liga 1 team Persis Solo along with Kaesang Pangarep, the youngest son of President Joko Widodo. He was also the president director of ANTV television station and the chief of the Indonesian Olympic Committee. In 2019, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Thohir is also currently a member of the FIBA Central Board.
Marc J. Leder is an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Boca Raton, Florida. He is also a limited partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's New Jersey Devils, and the Josh Harris Group, which owns Real Salt Lake of the MLS, the English Premier League's Crystal Palace F.C., and the NFL's Washington Commanders.
David Scott Blitzer is an American investor and sports team owner. He is a senior executive at the private equity firm Blackstone and co-managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils. A native of New Jersey, he graduated from Penn's Wharton School and joined Blackstone in 1991. Blitzer and Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris are frequent business partners, with the pair establishing Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment in 2017.
Arthur Mitchell Wrubel is an American private equity investor who founded Wesley Capital Management, LLC and is a minority owner of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association.
The Race Team Alliance (RTA) is a 501(c)(6) organization based in Charlotte, North Carolina, founded by businessman and former NASCAR team stakeholder Rob Kauffman. The organization currently consists of 15 NASCAR Cup Series teams and is led by Jonathan Marshall. The organization negotiates with NASCAR on major topics within the league on behalf of NASCAR race teams in said topics, including the implementation of the charter system and negotiating media rights deals. The organization within recent years has also overseen expansion, including the purchase of a motorsports news site along with a now-defunct NASCAR esports league.
Martin J. Geller is an American businessman and founder of Geller & Company. He is also a limited partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.
Hugh Weber is an American sports executive who has served as the president of business operations for Seattle Sounders FC since 2023. He previously served as president of the New Jersey Devils and its parent company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) from 2013 to 2022. He previously served in the same position for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. A native of Tacoma, Washington, Weber graduated from the University of Puget Sound, where he was also a member of their track team.
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment LLC (HBSE) is an American sports and venue management company founded by investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer in September 2017. HBSE owns and operates the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as other properties such as their minor league affiliates, the Prudential Center, and the esports organization Dignitas. HBSE also holds a minority stake in the NASCAR team Joe Gibbs Racing. The company is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, and was valued at $11.86 billion in 2024.
TCG Capital Management, LP, doing business as TCG or The Chernin Group, is an American investment advisory firm focused on private equity investments in the media, entertainment, technology, sports and consumer and digital media sectors.
David J. Adelman is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Campus Apartments, the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of FS Investments, and the Founder of Darco Capital Chair. Adelman is also a limited partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. His net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $2 billion in May 2023.
Thaddeus Brown is an American sports executive who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which includes the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly served as CEO of the NBA's Houston Rockets and the Toyota Center.
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Mark D. Ein is an American venture capitalist, sports team owner, and former doubles tennis player. He was born in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and earned a degree in economics from the Wharton School and a MBA from Harvard Business School. Ein worked for The Carlyle Group, Brentwood Associates, and Goldman Sachs before founding Venturehouse Group in 1999. He is a lifelong enthusiast of tennis who played in a few ATP tournaments. He is also chairman of the DC Open tennis tournament and the founder of the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis (WTT).
The value of the Devils is up 41% to $1.17 billion.
Harris has 20 limited partners in his group, including Mitchell Rales, Magic Johnson, Eric Schmidt and Mark Ein, the most in the NFL.