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Where does Broncos owner Rob Walton rank among richest sports owners in the world? Assessing top 10 list

On Tuesday morning, Forbes released a list of the richest sports owners in the world. In the top five, there is only one NFL owner and he's the most recent to purchase a football franchise.

Rob Walton, who finalized his purchase of the Denver Broncos in 2022, comes in at number three with a net worth of $57.6 billion. Walton is the heir to the Walmart fortune and formed an ownership group to buy the Broncos.

The wealthiest sports owner in the world is Mukesh Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai Indians, a professional cricket team that is worth over one billion dollars. Ambani is said to have a net worth of $83.4 billion and made his fortune as the owner of Reliance Industries.

Steve Ballmer, the owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, has a net worth of $80.7 billion. Ballmer is well-known for being the former CEO of Microsoft. He paid $2 billion for the organization in 2014 and is currently funding the construction of a brand new arena for the team.

        Mukesh Ambani (Mumbai Indians)                                  $83.4B
        Steve Ballmer (Los Angeles Clippers)                                  $80.7B
             Rob Walton (Denver Broncos)                                  $57.6B
         Francois Pinault (Stade Rennais FC)                                  $40.1B
                          Mark Mateschitz 
        (New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Racing)
                                  $34.7B

Francois Pinault, the owner of the Stade Rennais FC, is the fourth richest sports owner on the list. Pinault has made his fortune in the luxury goods business, having an ownership stake in Gucci since 1999.

Mark Mateschitz, the youngest sports owner on the list, rounds out the top five. Mateschitz is the son of Red Bull founder Dietrich, who died last fall.

After the passing of Dietrich, Mark inherited 49 percent of the Red Bull Company, as well as the sports ownership stakes that his father had. This includes the New York Red Bulls soccer club, the Formula1 Red Bull Racing Team, and the RB Leipzig soccer club. The 30-year-old now has a net worth of over $34 billion.

James Ratcliffe hits the richest sports owner list at number six with an estimated net worth of $22.9 billion. Ratcliffe owns the French soccer club OGC Nice and is interested in purchasing Manchester United.

Owner of one of Japanese baseball's most successful teams, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Masayoshi Son is the seventh richest sports owner on the list. Son made the majority of his $22.4 billion wealth in the internet and telecom industry.

Another NFL owner, David Tepper, joins Rob Walton in the top 10 list. Tepper, who has been criticized for the way he runs his team, purchased the franchise in 2018 for $2.3 billion. The hedge fund investor has an estimated net worth of $18.5 billion. Tepper also owns the Charlotte FC soccer club.

Daniel Gilbert, owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, has an estimated net worth of $18 billion, making him the ninth richest sports owner. He bought the Cavaliers for $375 million in 2005 and the team is now estimated to be worth over $2 billion.

Rounding out the top 10 is New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. Since purchasing the team in 2020, the former Wall Street trader has spared no expense when it comes to investing in the baseball franchise.

Where does Jerry Jones rank on richest sports owners list?

Jerry Jones
Jerry Jones

The Dallas Cowboys have long been considered one of the wealthiest sports franchises in the world.

So, where does longtime team owner Jerry Jones fall on the list of the richest sports team owners? Jones fell just outside the top 10, at number 12, with a net worth of $13.3 billion.

Jones bought the team in 1989 for $140 million and it now has an estimated worth of $8 billion. While Jones has made a career and his wealth through investments and real estate, the Cowboys actually made him a billionaire in 2004.

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