Clark Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS | CLARK HUNT | CHAIRMAN, CEO | AGE: 53
Education: Southern Methodist University
How They Acquired the Franchise: Hunt inherited the Chiefs from his father, Lamar. The franchise came into the family in 1960 when Lamar, who was spurned by the NFL in pursuit of a Dallas franchise, founded a rival league—the AFL—and introduced the Dallas Texans. Three years later the Texans relocated to Kansas City and were renamed the Chiefs. In ’70, the Chiefs became an NFL franchise in the NFL-AFL merger.
Net Worth: The Hunt family is worth $13.7 billion (per Forbes in 2016)
Franchise Valuation: $2.1 billion (per Forbes in 2017)
How They Made Their Money: The Hunt family fortune was born in the oil fields under family patriarch H.L. Hunt and continued to grow with the Hunt Oil Company and Petro-Hunt. In addition to owning the Chiefs, Lamar had a wealth of other sporting interests, including an ownership stake in the Chicago Bulls and three MLS teams. Clark remains the Chairman and CEO of FC Dallas.
In the Owner’s Words: When asked about the possibility of signing Colin Kaepernick, Hunt told NBC Sports Radio, “I’m not going to tell our head coach or our GM not to bring in a player if they think that player can bring us some success on the field and make us better. Now there are certain circumstances where guys get in trouble off the field, and that is something as an organization and as a family we care about.
“We’re not going to bring those types of players in. In terms of a player like Colin, I would have no hesitation bringing him into the organization.”
Political Donations: Hunt has primarily donated to Republican causes, most notably with a $20K donation to the RNC in 2012; $25K to Romney Victory Inc. in ’12; and $10,400 to Team Ryan, a super PAC supporting Paul Ryan, in ’16.
NFL Committees: Management Council Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Digital Media Committee, International Committee (Chairman), Conduct Committee, Compensation Committee.
Next in Line: Hunt and his wife, Tavia Shackles, have three children that could inherit the team. Hunt also has three siblings—Sharron, Daniel, and Lamar Jr.—who own equal shares of the team but are not as involved with the day-to-day operations.
