Ken Kendrick

Last updated
Ken Kendrick
Kendrick.jpg
Born (1943-09-02) September 2, 1943 (age 80)
Princeton, West Virginia, U.S.
Alma mater West Virginia University (BBA)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forOwner of Arizona Diamondbacks
Founder of Datatel, Inc.

Earl Gentry "Ken" Kendrick, Jr. (born September 2, 1943) is an American billionaire businessman who is the principal owner and managing general partner of the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks. He became part-owner with the team's inception in 1995. He has been managing general partner since 2004, overseeing day-to-day operations and acting as the organization’s designated representative when the Major League Baseball owners convene. [1]

Contents

Prior to his position with the team, Kendrick founded Datatel, Inc., a software development company, and served as a banking industry executive in Texas. [2] He has a net worth of $1 billion as of June 2022. [3]

Business Career

A native of Princeton, West Virginia, [4] Kendrick received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from West Virginia University in 1965, Kendrick started his career with IBM. [5]

Three years later, he founded Datatel, Inc., which has become the worldwide leader in the development of computer software for the management of infrastructure technology for colleges, universities and foundations. [6] In 2011, Datatel acquired SunGard Higher Education for $1.75 billion. The combined companies were renamed Ellucian and were sold in 2015 for $3.5 billion to TPG Capital. [7]

Kendrick also served as President of a Texas-based financial services technology company during the 1980s. In 1989, Kendrick became the principal investor in Woodforest National Bank in The Woodlands, Texas, which is one of the nation’s largest primarily employee-owned banks. [8] Woodforest National Bank, a $9-billion entity with 5,000 employees, is a subsidiary of Woodforest Financial Group. [9]

Diamondbacks tenure

During Kendrick's tenure, the Diamondbacks have won two National League West Division Championships (2007, '11), competed in two NLCS series (2007), (2023), and returned to the World Series for the first time in 22 years [10] [11] Under Kendrick’s leadership, through equity and debt restructures, the team has eliminated more than $350 million of debt. [12] [13]

During Kendrick's time as Managing General Partner, the Diamondbacks have hosted an All-Star Game at Chase Field in 2011, and opened a Spring Training facility that is widely considered the finest in all of baseball in Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. [14]

ESPN the Magazine rated the D-backs as the No. 6 team in Major League Baseball in its Ultimate Standings, which gauges success both on and off the field [15] and Yahoo! has referred to the Arizona Diamondbacks as the "best workplace in sports." [16]

In 2020, Kendrick was appointed to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Board of Directors. [17] [18]

Personal life

Kendrick and his wife, Randy Kendrick, have two children, Cal and Catie, and make their home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. [19]

Kendrick also owns Bumble Bee Ranch, providing western lifestyle experiences to children’s charities throughout Arizona in addition to the Ironbridge Golf Club in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. [20]

Baseball card collection

An avid baseball card collector his entire life, Kendrick is the owner of the T206 Honus Wagner baseball card once owned by Wayne Gretzky, considered the most valuable trading card in the world. [21] [22] The Wagner card and 34 other iconic and rare baseball cards in Kendrick’s collection, titled "The D-backs Collection," were previously displayed at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. [23] [24] [25]

In February 2021, Kendrick and several partners including Larry Fitzgerald, NBA player Kevin Durant and former tennis champion Andy Roddick purchased the parent company of Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), Collectors Universe, an authenticator and grader of memorabilia. [26]

Philanthropy

Kendrick is very active in many philanthropic endeavors, beginning with his role as Chairman of the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, which has donated over $80 million in charitable giving since its inception. [27]

He also has served on boards for various charities including Barrow Neurological Institute, Dignity Health, TGen Foundation, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and the Phoenix Children's Hospital. The University of Georgia elected Kendrick to its Board of Visitors. [28]

In 2016, torrential rains over parts of West Virginia caused devastating flooding in many counties and Kendrick came to the aid of his home state, setting up a relief program that raised more than $1 million. [29] In 2022, Kendrick pledged $20 million to WVU to expand economics education through the Chambers College. [30]

During the pandemic in 2020, Kendrick guided more than $2 million in charitable donations with a focus on non-profit organizations assisting those in need, [31] while creating a fund specifically for Chase Field gameday staff unable to work during the shutdown. [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Colangelo</span> American basketball player, coach, executive

Jerry Colangelo is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League, and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He was also instrumental in the relocation of the original Winnipeg Jets team in the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2014, Grand Canyon University renamed its Christian based school of business after Jerry Colangelo, replacing Ken Blanchard's namesake. From December 2015 to April 2016, Colangelo served as chairman of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, before serving as a special advisor to the team until December 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Gonzalez (outfielder, born 1967)</span> American baseball player (born 1967)

Luis Emilio Gonzalez, nicknamed "Gonzo", is an American former baseball outfielder who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven teams. Gonzalez spent his best years with the Arizona Diamondbacks and was one of the most popular players in the organization's history. His game-winning hit in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera clinched the Diamondbacks' first and only World Series championship to date. Gonzalez was a five-time All-Star and won a Silver Slugger Award in 2001. In addition to good power, Gonzalez was known as an exceptional gap hitter. His 596 career doubles currently rank 19th on the all-time MLB list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Plank</span> American baseball player (1875-1926)

Edward Stewart Plank, nicknamed "Gettysburg Eddie", was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, Plank played in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 through 1914, the St. Louis Terriers in 1915, and the St. Louis Browns in 1916 and 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Williams (third baseman)</span> American baseball player and coach (born 1965)

Matthew Derrick Williams, nicknamed "Matt the Bat" and "the Big Marine", is an American professional baseball manager and former third baseman who is the third base coach for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). A right-handed batter, Williams played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He managed the Washington Nationals from 2014 to 2015, and was the third base coach for the San Diego Padres from 2022 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Brenly</span> American baseball player, manager, and commentator (born 1954)

Robert Earl Brenly is an American baseball sportscaster and a former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher with the San Francisco Giants. After retiring as a player, Brenly worked as a broadcaster with the Chicago Cubs, then as a coach with the Giants, then as a broadcaster for Fox. He was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2001 season, and won the franchise's only championship his first year, becoming the fourth rookie manager to win a World Series and first since 1961. In 2004, Brenly was released by the Diamondbacks and again became a broadcaster with the Cubs until 2012. He now serves as a color commentator for Diamondbacks broadcasts.

SunGard was an American multinational company based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, which provided software and services to education, financial services, and public sector organizations. It was formed in 1983, as a spin-off of the computer services division of Sun Oil Company. The name of the company originally was an acronym which stood for Sun Guaranteed Access to Recovered Data, a reference to the disaster recovery business it helped pioneer. SunGard was ranked at 480th in the U.S. Fortune 500 list in the year 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kino Sports Complex</span> Sports venue in Tucson, Arizona

Kino Sports Complex is a multiple-use sports complex in Tucson, Arizona. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox formerly utilized the complex's main ballpark, Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, for Cactus League games each March and had their minor league complexes on-site. The ballpark was also home to the Tucson Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League for the team's last decade in Tucson, running from the stadium's 1998 opening season to the 2008 season. The ballpark was a temporary home (2011–2013) to the Tucson Padres of the Pacific Coast League during the team's relocation to El Paso, Texas. It is also the regular season home of the Pecos League's Tucson Saguaros baseball team since 2016. It seats 11,500 fans, and hosts concerts in addition to its primary function as a baseball park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Virginia Mountaineers</span> Athletic program of West Virginia University

The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mountaineers have been a member of the Big 12 Conference since 2012. At that time, the Mountaineers joined the Mid-American Conference as an affiliate member for men's soccer. The men's soccer team now competes in the Sun Belt Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T206</span>

T206 is a tobacco card set issued from 1909 to 1911 in cigarette and loose tobacco packs through 16 different brands owned by the American Tobacco Company. It is a landmark set in the history of baseball card collecting, due to its size and rarity, and the quality of its color lithographs. The first series of cards were issued beginning in 1909. From 1909 to 1911 cards of over 500 major minor-league players in 16 different cigarette brands. The set featured Honus Wagner, Eddie Plank and the error cards of Larry Doyle and Sherry Magee. Several of the cards are among the most expensive sports cards ever sold.

Jeffrey S. Moorad is an American businessman and investor. He began his career as a sports agent, before serving as General Partner and CEO of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, and Vice-Chairman and CEO of MLB's San Diego Padres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Plummer</span> American baseball player and manager (1947–2024)

William Francis Plummer was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher in 1968 and then from 1970 to 1978, most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won four National League pennants and two World Series championships between 1970 and 1976. He also played for the Chicago Cubs and the Seattle Mariners.

Derrick Martin Hall is an American sports executive currently serving as the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T206 Honus Wagner</span> Baseball card issued 1909–1911

The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card depicts the Pittsburgh Pirates' Honus Wagner, known as "The Flying Dutchman,” a dead-ball era baseball player who is widely considered to be one of the best players of all time. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. Wagner refused to allow production of his baseball card to continue, either because he did not want children to buy cigarette packs to get his card, or because he wanted more compensation from the ATC. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card, and a total of only 50 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public, as compared to the "tens or hundreds of thousands" of T206 cards, over three years in sixteen brands of cigarettes, for any other player. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US$50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card in the world at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bally Sports Arizona</span> American regional sports network (1996–2023)

Bally Sports Arizona (BSAZ) was an American regional sports network (RSN). The channel broadcast professional, collegiate and high school sports events, with a primary focus on Phoenix-area teams. It was available on most cable providers throughout Arizona and available nationwide on satellite provider DirecTV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junior Noboa</span> Dominican baseball player

Milciades Arturo "Junior" Noboa Díaz is a Dominican former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Datatel, Inc. was a private company that provided fully integrated software and professional services to build enterprise education platforms for higher education until it combined with its competitor SunGard Higher Education to form Ellucian in 2012. Datatel was headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

Elections to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for 2022 were conducted according to the rules most recently amended in 2016. As in the past, the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, with results announced on January 25. David Ortiz, in his first year of eligibility, was the only player elected from the BBWAA ballot.

References

  1. ↑ "Ken Kendrick, Managing General Partner, Arizona Diamondbacks, speaks at Terry Leadership Speaker Series - Multimedia - Terry College of Business - University of Georgia". Archived from the original on 2016-03-02. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  2. ↑ "Ken Kendrick, Rusty Bowers honored at 2022 Heritage Awards". 23 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "Ken Kendrick". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  4. ↑ "Ken Kendrick". Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  5. ↑ "WVU alum Ken Kendrick joins Baseball Hall of Fame board". Times West Virginian. 2020-05-15. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  6. ↑ Layman, Matt (2020-05-14). "D-backs' Ken Kendrick added to Baseball Hall of Fame board of directors". Arizona Sports. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  7. ↑ "Ellucian Close to $3.5 Billion Sale to Private Equity Firm - EdSurge News". EdSurge. 2015-08-13. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  8. ↑ "Ken Kendrick - Managing General Partner | Arizona Diamondbacks". MLB.com. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  9. ↑ "Ken Kendrick". business.wvu.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  10. ↑ "DBacks' owner Ken Kendrick says World Series run is due to learning from past mistakes". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  11. ↑ "Arizona Diamondbacks Team History & Encyclopedia".
  12. ↑ "Ken Kendrick, Managing General Partner, Arizona Diamondbacks, speaks at Terry Leadership Speaker Series - Multimedia - Terry College of Business - University of Georgia". Archived from the original on 2016-03-02. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  13. ↑ "Diamondbacks formally introduce pitcher Zack Greinke".
  14. ↑ "Salt River Fields At Talking Stick receives prestigious honor from Architectural Record Magazine". WSMV. Archived from the original on 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  15. ↑ "No. 6: Arizona Diamondbacks". 11 September 2013.
  16. ↑ "Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall won't let his cancer change the best workplace in sports". 31 January 2012.
  17. ↑ Cluff, Jeremy. "Diamondbacks' Ken Kendrick appointed to National Baseball Hall of Fame Board of Directors". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  18. ↑ Layman, Matt (2020-05-14). "D-backs' Ken Kendrick added to Baseball Hall of Fame board of directors". Arizona Sports. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  19. ↑ "Ken Kendrick | Honorary Degrees | West Virginia University". honorarydegrees.wvu.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  20. ↑ "Ken Kendrick Appointed to Board of Directors for National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum | Baseball Hall of Fame". baseballhall.org. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  21. ↑ "Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner" . Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  22. ↑ Sullivan, Paul (2018-03-23). "Trading Cards: A Hobby That Became a Multimillion-Dollar Investment". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  23. ↑ Bates, Greg (2022-08-06). "Ken Kendrick's $100M Diamondbacks Collection stands out at The National". Sports Collectors Digest. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  24. ↑ "Opening 25-year-old baseball cards with D-backs owner Ken Kendrick". Yahoo Sports. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  25. ↑ Faller, Mark. "Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick's baseball cards on display in Scottsdale". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  26. ↑ "Investor Group Led by Nat Turner Completes Acquisition of Collectors Universe". www.businesswire.com. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  27. ↑ "Ken Kendrick Appointed to Board of Directors for National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum | Baseball Hall of Fame". baseballhall.org. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  28. ↑ "Ken Kendrick - Managing General Partner | Arizona Diamondbacks". MLB.com .
  29. ↑ "WVUToday Archive". wvutoday-archive.wvu.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  30. ↑ "WVU Today | WVU announces $40M partnership to expand economics education through innovative Chambers College programs". 22 February 2022.
  31. ↑ Layman, Matt (2020-03-17). "D-backs, MLB teams to establish $1 million funds for impacted workers". Arizona Sports. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  32. ↑ "Arizona Diamondbacks donate $1M to coronavirus relief efforts". FOX 10 Phoenix. 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
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.