Stan Kroenke has an estimated net worth of $8.5 billion — but that can’t hold a candle to the family of his wife, Walmart heiress Ann Walton.
The owner of the Los Angeles Rams is in the spotlight this week as his team makes a trip to the Super Bowl to take on the New England Patriots. Kroenke built his team into a Super Bowl contender in just two seasons since moving the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles, much the way he and his wife built their fortunes — from the ground up. As Forbes noted in its list of the richest people in the United States, Kroenke built his $8.5 billion fortune through a vast network of real estate, much of it in shopping centers that surround Walmart stores.
Walton, like her immediate family members, became a billionaire through the work of her grandfather, Walmart founder Sam Walton. Together they make up one of the richest families in the world, with Business Insider reporting their total net worth at $163.2 billion.
Thanks to the couple’s mega-fortune — worth more than $15 billion combined — Kroenke was able to spearhead the ambitious project that moved the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles. He first laid out plans for the multi-billion dollar stadium in Inglewood years before the team’s actual move, and told the Los Angeles Times that his experience as the owner of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche as well as English soccer team Arsenal helped prepare him for what it would take to make such a bold move.
“If we didn’t have the perspective of 40 years of doing this, I don’t think any reasonable, rational person would ever do this,” Kroenke said. “But because we look at it a certain way, we’ve been through so many of these projects, and we’re long-term investors. That’s why we did what we did and stuck our neck out that far.”
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke praised for “great” investment in Los Angeles Rams – Mirror Online https://t.co/M5CCU5QoIm
— Arsenal Plaza (@ArsenalPlaza) February 1, 2019
Ann Walton actually played a major role in moving the team to Los Angeles as well. In 2015, the NFL’s owners approved a plan that transferred ownership of the Nuggets and Avalanche to his wife, clearing an important hurdle for Kroenke that allowed him to comply with the NFL’s rule against an owner with an NFL franchise in one city and a different sports team in a different city. Ann Walton retained ownership of the NHL and NBA teams, with their son Josh actually running the teams.
