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Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, has four children – all sons – and multiple grandchildren. He was also married – once – but the death of his wife left him heartbroken.
For decades, Kraft was married to Myra Kraft, a woman who was beloved for her charitable work and devotion to the community and her family. When she died, Robert Kraft expressed in interviews how lonely the death made him. Since Myra died in 2011, Robert Kraft has dated girlfriend named Ricki Noel Lander. However, that relationship seems complicated (she recently gave birth to a baby he says is not his). He has not remarried since Myra died.
TMZ reported on February 22, 2019 that authorities in Florida have issued a warrant for Robert Kraft’s arrest “as part of a recent prostitution, human trafficking sting operation in Jupiter, Florida.” Specifically, he is expected to be accused of soliciting a prostitute, the site reported.
Here’s what you need to know about Robert Kraft’s Family:
1. Myra Kraft Died From Cancer in 2011 & Her Death Left Robert Kraft Devastated
At the center of Robert Kraft’s family always stood Myra Kraft, his wife of many years, the mother of his children, and the partner at his side in dispensing out millions of dollars to charitable efforts through the family’s foundation.
Robert Kraft and his wife married in 1963 and stayed married until her death. Theirs was a long and happy marriage by all accounts.
In 2011, NFL.com and other sites reported that Robert Kraft’s wife, Myra Kraft, had died of cancer.
“Myra Kraft, the wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a hard-working philanthropist dedicated to numerous causes, died Wednesday morning after a battle with cancer, the team said in a statement. She was 68,” the site reported.
“We are all heartbroken,” the team’s statement said, adding that Myra Kraft’s death was “a great loss.” According to the Boston Globe, the 2011 Patriots season was dedicated to Myra. Fans honored her by holding signs with her initials – MHK – at games.
After Myra died, family members worried about Kraft, such was the depth of his grief. The Boston Globe quoted him as saying, “I sort of feel robbed. I try to stay very busy, I basically work seven days a week. I try to do new things, to meet new people.” He was given a medallion with the couple’s photo in it when Myra was sick.
“Myra was the picture of health,” he said to the Globe. “She weighed 98 pounds, she read four books a week, she ate healthy and exercised every day. Our plan was that she was going to outlive me by 30 years.”
Kraft described to the Globe how lonely he felt when Myra first died.
“I’m blessed with four great children and eight grandchildren,” he said to the newspaper. “But you go home, and you go home alone, and no one’s there. It’s just really sad.” He hastens to add: “No one’s going to feel sorry for me because I’ve been so blessed.”
2. Three of the Kraft Sons Work for the Family’s Foundation
The Krafts had four sons together. Three of them work at the family’s business organization, the Kraft Group. “Devoted mother of Jonathan and his wife Patti, Daniel and his wife Wendy, Joshua and his wife Carolyn Kraft and David Kraft,” reads her obituary.
His son, Jonathan Kraft, is President of the Kraft Group, the family’s company. The family website says of Jonathan Kraft: “Upon graduation from Williams College in 1986, Jonathan started his career at Bain & Co. After earning his MBA at Harvard Business School, he joined the Kraft Group in 1990. Since that time, he has worked to help drive the growth and diversification of the Kraft Group. In his role as President, Jonathan is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day activities of each of the Kraft Group’s operating businesses and outlining the plan for future growth and diversification.”
According to Boston.com, Jonathan described his father’s grief after Myra died by saying that Myra “would be the first to say that he couldn’t function on his own, and I say that with a smile. My father is someone who needs companionship. From the time he was a junior in college, he and my mom were inseparable.”
As for Josh Kraft, the other son, the website says: “Josh Kraft serves as the President of the New England Patriots Foundation, where he oversees all aspects of the Foundation’s community outreach programs and fundraising efforts. Through his leadership, the Foundation has expanded its reach and impact in the New England community. In 2015, the Foundation made donations to more than 1,500 nonprofit organizations and coordinated more than 400 appearances by current and former Patriots players across New England.”
Daniel Kraft, says the website “is President – International for the Kraft Group and serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of International Forest Products LLC (IFP), the Kraft Group’s international trading company that markets paper, pulp and solid wood products to more than 90 countries worldwide. Dan’s father, Robert, founded IFP in 1972 primarily as a trader/exporter of containerboard grades of paper. Dan assumed management responsibility of the company in 1997 and has expanded the company through diversification into various other forest product commodities and geographic regions. Today, IFP is one of the world’s largest trading companies.”
3. Robert Kraft’s Son David Was Involved in a Legal Fight Over the Family Trust
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David Kraft, Robert Kraft’s youngest son, “is fighting a move by his father’s trustee, Richard Morse, to shift the assets of the family trust into a new trust,” the Boston Business Journal reported in 2013.
The Business Journal Explained: “David Kraft had worked at The Kraft Group, the family empire that includes the New England Patriots. He left the company last fall, apparently amid a dispute with his father. He subsequently hired a law firm to pursue his portion of the trust, set up in 1982 by Robert and the late Myra Kraft to benefit their four sons.”
To Boston.com, David said: “My concern is that I’m being robbed blind,” calling a new trust “one more way to keep it further from me and for my father to basically consolidate his grip to keep his control as long as he wants.”
However, in 2013, the site reported, “The state’s highest court ruled today that a trustee for the four adult Kraft sons — Jonathan, Daniel, Joshua and David — can move the assets of a trust established by their parents in 1982 into a new trust. The 2012 Trust, as it’s called, would give the sons more direct and individual control over their assets.”
4. Robert Kraft Got His Start Working for His Father-in-Law
According to Britanica.com, Kraft’s father “ran a small business in the clothing trade. After the younger Kraft earned a bachelor’s degree (1963) at Columbia University and an M.B.A. (1965) at Harvard Business School, he went to work at Rand-Whitney, a manufacturer of paper packaging that was controlled by his father-in-law, Jacob Hiatt.”
“Born and raised in Worcester with her sister, Janice, Myra is the daughter of the late Jacob and Frances (Lavine) Hiatt – as in the Jacob Hiatt Magnet School, the Frances L. and Jacob Hiatt Learning Center at the Jewish Community Center and the Frances and Jacob Hiatt Holocaust Collection, a wing in the College of the Holy Cross’s Dinand Library,” Telegram reported before she died.
“Her father was Jacob Hiatt, who emigrated from Lithuania in 1935. His parents, sisters, and brother remained behind and perished in the Holocaust,” reports JWA.org. Robert Kraft initially worked for his father-in-law at the Rand-Whitney Group into International Forest Products, the site also notes.
5. Robert Kraft Has Had a Girlfriend Since Myra Died
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As for Kraft’s love life since Myra died – it’s complicated. His girlfriend had a baby recently, and he says the child is not his. According to People, in March, 2018, Kraft’s spokesperson told the magazine: “Last fall, Ricki Noel Lander became the proud mother of a beautiful, healthy baby.”
The spokesperson continued to People: “While Robert Kraft is not the biological father, he is thrilled with Ricki’s blessing of having a healthy child. With respect to her family’s privacy, we will not be commenting any further.”
The child was kept secret from the news media despite being born in 2017, but news eventually broke.
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