Meet The Billionaire Owner Of The Philadelphia Eagles

Forbes

Even if Jeffrey Lurie’s team doesn’t come out on top in the Super Bowl, he’s a winner: The franchise is now worth 35 times what he paid for it in 1994.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2025/02/07/meet-the-billionaire-owner-of-the-philadelphia-eagles/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, meet the billionaire owner of the Philadelphia Eagles.

00:07When Jeffrey Lurie bought the Philadelphia Eagles for $185 million in 1994, mortgaging

00:13his family's fortune to get the deal done, he faced his share of criticism.

00:18Recalling that the deal made the front page of the newspaper, the 73-year-old billionaire

00:22told Forbes this week, quote,

00:24"...the Wall Street Journal said it was the dumbest investment of the year."

00:29To be fair, the publication had plenty of reasons to make that claim.

00:33Back then, the Eagles' home, Veterans Stadium, was infested with rats and falling apart.

00:40Their practice facility was in a similar, if not worse, state of disrepair.

00:44The organization's football operations and scouting departments had struggled, letting

00:49future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White leave for the Green Bay Packers in 1993

00:54and whiffing on his replacement, Leonard Renfro, with a first-round draft pick that

00:58same year.

01:00Thirty years later, however, the Eagles' struggles are a distant memory.

01:05Lurie transformed the franchise, delivering a new stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, which

01:10opened in 2003, and establishing a winning culture.

01:14Philadelphia claimed a Super Bowl title in 2018 and returned to the big game in 2023,

01:20falling just short against the Kansas City Chiefs.

01:23Now, the Eagles have a shot at redemption and their second-ever Lombardi Trophy, as

01:28they once again face the Chiefs in Super Bowl LII in New Orleans on Sunday.

01:34Regardless of the game's outcome, Lurie is already a winner.

01:38The Eagles are the eighth most valuable franchise in the NFL and the twelfth most valuable team

01:43from any sport, at $6.6 billion by Forbes' count, an astonishing 3,500% return on their

01:51owner's initial investment.

01:53That mark could be even higher after Lurie sold 8% of the franchise in December at a

01:58reported $8.3 billion valuation, although the numbers in small-stake sales generally

02:04don't translate to the price in a control-stake transaction.

02:08Forbes estimates Lurie is now worth $5.3 billion, and if the last couple of years are any indication,

02:15with NFL franchise values skyrocketing thanks to the league's annual average of $12.4

02:20billion in national media rights fees, it looks like he may keep running up the score.

02:26Lurie can credit his grandfather, Philip Smith, for putting him in position to one day buy

02:31the Eagles.

02:32As the founder of the General Cinema Corporation in 1935, Smith laid the groundwork for a business

02:38that eventually owned 315 movie theater complexes in the U.S. and 60% of the Neiman Marcus retail

02:44chain.

02:45The business also acquired distressed insurance company and book publisher Harcourt Brace

02:50Jovanovich in a $1.4 billion deal, rebranding it as Harcourt General.

02:56Lurie avoided the family business at first, earning degrees from Clark, Boston, and Brandeis

03:00Universities and briefly serving as an adjunct assistant professor of social policy.

03:06But he joined General Cinema in 1983 and then struck out on his own two years later to start

03:11Chestnut Hill Productions, a Los Angeles-based film and TV company.

03:16Although Chestnut Hill attracted stars Don Johnson, Susan Sarandon, and Jeff Daniels

03:20for 1988's Sweetheart's Dance, Hollywood success eluded Lurie until much later, when he produced

03:26three Academy Award-winning documentaries.

03:29Instead, he found an opportunity to chase another passion when his hometown team, the

03:34New England Patriots, went up for sale in 1993.

03:38Once the bidding exceeded $150 million, though, Lurie pulled out, unable to justify the price

03:43against the team's dire financial situation.

03:47Robert Kraft ultimately bought the team for $172 million in 1994, but Lurie didn't give

03:53up his pursuit of an NFL franchise.

03:56After a failed attempt to bring an expansion team to Baltimore, the league ultimately selected

04:00Jacksonville and Carolina, Lurie shifted his focus to Philadelphia.

04:05At $185 million, the price tag of Lurie's 1994 purchase was believed to be the highest

04:11for an existing professional sports franchise at the time, and the deal wasn't easy to finance.

04:17According to the Eagles Encyclopedia by Ray Dittinger and Robert S. Lyons, Lurie and his

04:22mother took a nine-figure loan from the Bank of Boston, using their Harcourt General Stock

04:27as equity and pledging more from the family trust as collateral.

04:32For full coverage, check out Justin Birnbaum's piece on Forbes.com.

04:38This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:40Thanks for tuning in.

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