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The people who own NFL teams are — no surprise here — some of the richest people in American and in some cases, the entire world.
Even with that understanding, Denver Broncos owner Rob Walton’s money is truly something to behold, with NFL writer Dov Kleiman showing Walton’s $77.4 estimated net worth as not only the most out of any NFL owner but by quite a large margin.
Forbes Magazine has Walton at No. 19 on its list of the richest people in the world in 2024. Walton is the oldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton — the Walton family still owns half of Walmart’s overall stock. Younger brother Jim Walton was one spot ahead of him on the Forbes list with an estimated net worth of $78.4 billion.
The Hunt Family, which owns the Kansas City Chiefs, came in at No. 2 with an estimated net worth of $24.8 billion — almost $53 billion behind Walton.
The “poorest” NFL owner and the only non-billionaire on the list was Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown at an estimated net worth of $925 million.
From Forbes: “(Rob Walton) retired as chairman in June 2015 and was replaced by his son-in-law, Greg Penner … He and other heirs of Sam Walton collectively own about half of Walmart’s stock. In June 2022, a group led by Walton agreed to buy the NFL’s Denver Broncos for $4.7 billion — a record for a sports franchise.”
Walton Still Trailing One Pro Sports Owner
Only one person on the Forbes list of billionaires tops Walton in the capacity of being professional sports owners — Los Angeles Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was at No. 8 with an estimated net worth of $121 billion.
Ballmer bought the Clippers for $2 billion in 2014 after he retired from Microsoft, with the franchise now with an estimated worth of $4.5 billion, according to Forbes.
Walton hasn’t seen close to that type of return on his investment yet, with the Broncos valued at $5.1 billion — No. 13 on the Forbes list of NFL team valuations.
From Forbes: “Denver fired Nathaniel Hackett after his brutal debut head coaching season. Under the helm of Hackett and new QB Russell Wilson, the Broncos won just five games and missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. Shortly after letting Hackett go, Denver lured long-time Saints head coach Sean Payton out of retirement to right the ship. Payton signed a five year contract, with a reported $18 million average annual salary, making him the second highest paid coach in the NFL behind Bill Belichick.”
Broncos Haven’t Had Success in Decade
The Broncos haven’t made the playoffs since winning the Super Bowl following the 2015 season and haven’t had a winning season since 2016.
Walton’s tenure, so far, has been defined by the 5-year, $245 million contract extension the franchise gave to Wilson in Sept. 2022. Wilson was released after two seasons and the Broncos suffered an $85 million dead money hit — putting the franchise in an impossible financial situation for the next few years that Walton’s massive net worth can’t get them out of.
Walton might not be the one to blame for the disastrous contact, as he’s handed over day-to-day franchise duties to son-in-law Greg Penner from the start.
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