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Dan Snyder, Washington Redskins

Learn about Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, including how he made his wealth, his education and more.
Dan Snyder, Washington Redskins
Dan Snyder, Washington Redskins

DAN SNYDER | OWNER | AGE: 53

Education: Enrolled, but never graduated from the University of Maryland.

How They Acquired the Franchise: Purchased the team from the estate of late team owner Jack Kent Cooke for $800 million in 1999, a then-record price for a U.S. sports franchise.

Net Worth: $2.3 billion (per Forbes in 2018)

Franchise Valuation: $3.1 billion (per Forbes in 2017)

How They Made Their Money: He started Snyder Communications, a marketing company, in 1989. In 1996, at the age of 32, he became the youngest-ever CEO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed company.

In the Owner’s Words: “I have found that what drives me is the desire to prove, to myself and to my peers, that I can do what I set out to do and build something that matters,” Snyder told Fast Company in 1997. “I’ve done that by recruiting smart people—many from traditional corporate environments—and giving them a dose of entrepreneurial spirit.

“You achieve long-term success step by step. Try to achieve your goals one at a time, like you do target practice. I look at each day as a chance to move one notch above yesterday—whether it’s in service quality, delivery, speed, or any other aspect of the business. I don’t measure my “success” every day. I measure how much we have left to do.

“In that sense, business success is just a form of persistence.”

Political Donations: Snyder has made donations to candidates on both sides of the aisle, but the majority of his spending has been to Republican candidates, including $1 million to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee and $112K in 2015-16 to Right to Rise, a super PAC created to support Jeb Bush.

NFL Committees: Stadium Committee; Media Committee; Digital Media Committee; International Committee; Business Ventures Committee; Hall of Fame Committee.

• Click here to read The MMQB’s Complete NFL Owner’s Guide