Report: Walmart Heir Rob Walton the 'Frontrunner' to Win Broncos Ownership Bid
One week ago, the New York Post reported that Walmart heir Rob Walton has been preparing to submit an offer to purchase the Denver Broncos.
The 77-year-old from Tulsa, Oklahoma is reportedly ready to submit an offer upwards of $4 billion to acquire the team. Representatives for the Broncos have also been rumored to set the expectation of at least $3.75 billion as the floor to get a seat at the extravagant bidding table.
On Thursday, Westword reported that initial bids to purchase the Broncos are expected to be submitted on Friday, April 15 and Walton is the early favorite to buy the team. The son of late Walmart chairman Sam Walton, Rob's cousin Ann is married to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose son Josh is president of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
The buzz from Walton’s camp is that he’s likely to submit a $4 billion offer to buy the three-time World Champion franchise when bidding opens at the end of the week.
Walton’s wealth doesn’t end with the $4 billion offer, as Forbes estimates his net worth as of today at $70.4 billion which makes him the 19th-richest billionaire on Earth. If the offer is accepted or goes up in value, the sale of the Broncos is poised to be the highest ever paid for a professional sports team.
When David Tepper and company purchased the Carolina Panthers in 2018, it was at a sale price of $2.2 billion. Four years later, financial experts are already estimating a completed sale range for the Broncos to be between $4.5 to $5 billion.
Other potential bidders include Josh Harris of Apollo Global Management, who has previous pro sports ownership experience with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Robert F. Smith, who’s the United States' richest African American billionaire, is also in the conversation, although his recent IRS issues could complicate ownership consideration.
While Walton’s Walmart wealth is his largest identifiable attribute to the titans of industry, he’s relatively unknown to Broncos Country and the NFL. He has his bachelor’s degree from Arkansas and a doctorate from Columbia Law School.
Walton later represented Walmart before joining the company as vice president in 1978. From there, he ascended the corporate ladder to vice-chairman and two days after his father’s death, was named chairman of the board of directors in 1992. He retired from Walmart in 2015 and handed the reigns to his son-in-law Greg Penner.
The wealthy businessman who’s been retired for nearly seven years participates in multiple nonprofit organizations like Conservation International — whose goal is to create a sustainable and protected climate and nature. Walton’s also an exotic automobile collector with an estimated car collection worth $226 million.
By the time Friday’s bids open, there’s no question that Walton has the resources to outbid virtually anyone else at the table but time will tell whether he truly has the desire as reports indicate. Perhaps the Walmart heir is in line to become the Broncos' newest owner.
Money talks and you-know-what walks. Walton can clearly hold court with his accumulated and inherited multi-generational abundance of wealth.
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