Billionaire Jerry Jones is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, popularly known as “America's Team” and the most valuable sports franchise in the world. He helped transform the NFL team into three-time Super Bowl champions within a few years of taking ownership.
But Jones has always been a businessman, and his holdings also include real estate and natural gas production.
Here's how Jones makes money and where he ranks among the world's billionaires.
What is Jerry Jones' net worth?
Jones has a net worth of $16.1 billion as of the end of November 2024, according to Forbes. This placed him 128th among the richest people in the world at the time. This puts his wealth about $4 billion less than that of Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, who runs a hedge fund in addition to owning an NFL team.
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How much did Jerry Jones pay for the Cowboys? How much is the team worth now?
The largest holding company contributing to his net worth is the Dallas Cowboys, which Forbes values at more than $10 billion. Jones and his wife reportedly own 51% of the football team, while their three children equally own the remaining 49%.
Jones bought the Cowboys for $150 million in 1989 and immediately embarked on a business plan to revive the losing franchise and attract fans to the team.
Who is Jerry Jones?
Jerry Jones was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1942. He and his family moved to North Little Rock, Arkansas, when he was three years old. Jones attended the University of Arkansas and graduated with a business degree in 1965 and later earned a master's degree in 1970.
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As a scholarship football player for the Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas, he was co-captain of the 1964 national championship team.
His master's thesis was titled “The Role of Oral Communication in Modern College Football” and he sent questionnaires to top college football coaches of the time, including Paul “Bear” Bryant of the University of Alabama, about how they used communication to Teach and inspire your teams.
How did Jerry Jones make his money?
Jones became interested in business and making money at a young age. He told Forbes that he worked at his parents' grocery store, Pat's Super Market, when he was 9 years old.
In a 2010 interview with his alma mater, he credited his father and mother for influencing his interest in being creative in business. He described his father as a showman and marketer who would sometimes don a Wild West cowboy uniform in his store and host amateur talent shows while customers bought food.
While a student at Arkansas, Jones owned a small stake in several oil wells, sold life insurance to businessmen, and sold shoes to fraternity members.
After graduating from Arkansas, Jones' father left the grocery business and founded an insurance company called Modern Security Line in Missouri. Jones joined his father in the business and then started his own oil and gas company in 1971.
Around age 25, Jones considered taking ownership of the San Diego Chargers just before the AFL and NFL merged, causing the team's value to increase, but his father advised him to avoid taking on debt to finance the company. transaction.
After that failed football pursuit, Jones ventured into real estate investing, but was forced to make loan payments and interest payments that he was unable to make when he did not sell the properties as planned. He told Forbes that the impact of negative cash flow was an important lesson he learned at a young age and he has since applied it to his businesses, particularly with the Cowboys.
After taking over the franchise in 1989, Jones focused on the football organization's cash flow problem and solved it by reducing overhead expenses and looking for ways to generate revenue, such as finding more sponsors.
Jones' other key business interests include the development of residential and commercial properties in the Dallas area, as well as the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. His family's ownership in the oil and gas industry includes a 71% stake in Comstock Resources. (CRK) . Jones also owns Papa John's pizza franchises and a hotel management company.
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How does Jerry Jones spend his money?
As majority owner, along with his wife Gene, of the Dallas Cowboys, Jones focuses on recruiting players and signing them to sometimes lucrative contracts. He is also the president and CEO of the organization, which means he has control over the hiring and firing of important personnel, such as the head coach and players.
The Cowboys earned $1.2 billion in revenue for the 2023 football season and player expenses totaled $314 million, according to Forbes. Just as the 2024 NFL season began in September, the Cowboys signed their franchise quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year, $240 million contract, which was equivalent to $60 million a year. (Prescott missed half of the 2024 season due to injury.)
Still, Jones' roles as president and general manager have generated consternation among some fans, particularly due to his recruiting and retention of players who they believe have led to the Cowboys' inability to achieve another Super Bowl championship (or even appear in one) since his winning 1996 season.
The Cowboys organization said on its website that “the foundation for the team's future success has been secured through skillful draft maneuvers and key free agent acquisitions, starting from the front on the offensive line.”
As the public face of the Cowboys, Jones said in November 2024 that he will not resign from the general manager position as long as he remains the owner of the team. He has said that ownership of the team will pass to his children.
Outside of football, Jones is a fine art collector and he and his wife placed artwork throughout AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys play. Its collection includes artworks by modern artists such as Anish Kapoor. He purchased Norman Rockwell's painting, “The Coin Toss,” from fellow Texan Ross Perot for $1 million shortly after purchasing the Cowboys in 1989, and it is on private display in his home.
Jones reportedly purchased a $250 million yacht in 2019.
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