Tag: Mellody Hobson

Meet the new Broncos ownership group

The Bowlen era has come to an end. Here are the Broncos’ new owners.

The Bowlen era has come to an end in Denver.

NFL owners met Tuesday and unanimously voted in favor of a new Broncos ownership group led by Rob Walton, who agreed to pay $4.65 billion to the Bowlen family to purchase the team earlier this summer.

The late Pat Bowlen bought the team from Edgar Kaiser Jr. for $70 million in 1984. Denver’s NFL franchise went on to win three Super Bowls under Bowlen’s leadership before he died in 2019 following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

After Bowlen’s death, the team was run by a trust led in part by team president/CEO Joe Ellis. Bowlen’s children could not agree on a controlling owner among them, so the trust put the team up for sale earlier this year.

Tuesday’s approved sale marks the end of the Bowlen ownership era. Here’s a quick look at the team’s new ownership group that will be led by Walton starting this season.

Condoleezza Rice joins Broncos’ new ownership group

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is joining the Broncos’ new Walton-Penner ownership group.

The Denver Broncos’ (pending) new ownership group continues to grow.

The team announced Monday that Condoleezza Rice is joining the ownership group as a minority investor. The club released the following statement on behalf of the Walton-Penner ownership group:

We’re pleased to welcome former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to our ownership group. A highly respected public servant, accomplished academic and corporate leader, Secretary Rice is well known as a passionate and knowledgeable football fan who has worked to make sport stronger and better.

She is the daughter of a football coach and served on the inaugural College Football Playoff Committee. She moved to Denver with her family when she was 12 years old and went on to attend the University of Denver for both college and graduate school. Her unique experience and extraordinary judgment will be a great benefit to our group and the Broncos organization.

As the team’s statement noted, Rice has a strong connection to Denver and she’s a huge football fan. Rice was even linked to the head coach job with the Cleveland Browns in 2018, although she denied the reports that she was a candidate for that job.

Rich is the second Black woman to join the team’s ownership group, joining accomplished businesswoman Mellody Hobson.

The Walton-Penner group has not yet officially purchased the team — the sale has to be approved by at least 24 of the league’s 32 ownership groups — but that approval is expected to arrive later this summer. In the meantime, the ownership group could continue to grow, and Peyton Manning is a candidate to join the team in an advisory role.

The Broncos are aiming to have the new ownership group approved before the NFL’s regular season begins in September.

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Pending new Broncos ownership group will include Mellody Hobson

Mellody Hobson, 53, is the co-CEO of Ariel Investments.

A group led by Walmart heir Rob Walton has agreed to buy the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion, pending NFL approval.

Walton will be the majority owner. His daughter, Carrie Walton Penner, and his son-in-law, Greg Penner, will become minority owners.

The Walton-Penner group announced Tuesday evening that Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson will also be joining ownership.

Hobson is a 53-year-old businesswoman with an impressive resume.

“Beyond her role at Ariel, Mellody is an influential leader in corporate and civic organizations across the nation,” Rob Walton said in a press release.

“Mellody currently serves as Chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation and is also a director of JPMorgan Chase. We know she will bring her strategic acumen and leadership perspective to our team.”

After the Broncos announced they were going up for sale in February, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league wanted the team to sell to a diverse ownership group.

The team’s pending new ownership group includes two women in Carrie Walton Penner and Mellody Hobson, the latter a Black minority owner.

Hobson and her husband, George Lucas, live in California with their daughter, Everest.

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