Josh Harris (businessman)


Josh Harris (businessman)


Joshua Jordan Harris (born December 1964) is an American investor, sports team owner, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and a managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL's New Jersey Devils, and the NFL's Washington Commanders. Harris is also a general partner of the English football club Crystal Palace and holds a minority stake in Joe Gibbs Racing. He has an estimated net worth of around US$9 billion.

Harris was born and raised in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He graduated with a degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 before earning an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS), working two years at the former investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert in between. He founded Apollo with Leon Black and Marc Rowan in 1990 and helped manage its daily operations until leaving in 2022 to focus on sports investments, done frequently in partnership with David Blitzer.

Harris headed investment groups that acquired the 76ers in 2011, the Devils and the Prudential Center in 2013, and the Commanders and Commanders Field in 2023. Other companies founded by him include Harris Philanthropies in 2014, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment with Blitzer in 2017, and the alternative assets firm 26North in 2022. Harris sits on the board of the Mount Sinai Health System, Wharton, and HBS, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and formerly served as treasurer of the Allen-Stevenson School.

Early life and education

Harris was born in December 1964 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He grew up in Chevy Chase playing several sports and considers them as having developed his work ethic. He cited his favorite as wrestling after winning a summer camp tournament at the age of nine. Harris graduated from The Field School in Washington, D.C.

In 1982, he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences in Philadelphia, and then transferred to the university's Wharton School during his freshman year after discovering an affinity for statistics. In 1986, he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. As a freshman, Harris represented the Penn Quakers as a 118-pound collegiate wrestler and once matched with future Olympic gold medalist Bobby Weaver. He also managed a lemonade stand business during summer vacation in 1983 and 1984 that had locations at the National Zoo and Farragut North station in Washington, D.C. Harris is a member of the Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities.

Career

Private equity and finance

Harris moved to New York City in 1986 to work at the Wall Street investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert as a financial analyst in their mergers and acquisitions department. He left after two years to attend Harvard Business School (HBS), graduating with an MBA in 1990 as a Baker Loeb Scholar, an honor given to the top 5% of the school's departing class. The same year, Drexel filed for bankruptcy due to engaging in illegal junk bond activity amid an ongoing recession. Harris worked two months at Blackstone before leaving to establish the private equity firm Apollo Global Management with former Drexel partners Leon Black and Marc Rowan later that year. In 2008, Harris led a $2 billion investment into the multinational chemical company LyondellBasell in 2008, which he sold in November 2013 for a profit of $9.6 billion, one of the largest gains in private equity history. In April 2009, Harris was ordered to pay $30 million in a settlement to Huntsman Corporation after Apollo was sued for backing out of a merger with them the previous year.

Harris was among several businessmen in 2017 that met with the Trump administration as advisors for their $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, with Trump advisor Jared Kushner considering him for a potential White House job. In May 2021, he announced he was stepping down from his day-to-day responsibilities at Apollo after being passed over as CEO for Marc Rowan, with his large personal focus on sports investments also reportedly becoming a source of tension within the company. The position had been made available after Leon Black announced he would be stepping down due to an investigation finding he had paid $158 million to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for advice on taxes and estate planning. He stepped down as senior managing director at Apollo in January 2022 and remained on their board of directors until his term ended in October. Black included Harris in a civil racketeering lawsuit the same year, alleging that he led a group within Apollo attempting to tarnish his reputation after his ties to Epstein were reported. Harris denied the claims, with federal judge Paul Engelmayer dismissing the suit that June for lack of evidence. Black would appeal before the dismissal was upheld in March 2023. Harris founded the alternative asset firm 26North in September 2022, with it holding $9.5 billion in assets by the end of the year.

Harris is on the board of trustees of Mount Sinai Health System, Wharton, and Harvard Business School, and serves on the Council on Foreign Relations. He previously served on the Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets for the New York Federal Reserve, as vice president and treasurer of the Allen-Stevenson School, and on the board of the United States Olympic Committee. His family office, HRS Management, was the largest investor in the American political newspaper The Hill until selling to Nexstar Media Group in August 2021. In 2022, Harris invested $10 million in the Philadelphia-based real estate company Mosaic Development Partners and formed a joint venture with Canvas Property Group through HMS Management with the stated goal of buying more than $1 billion worth of properties. In 2023, he and investors Mark Penn, James Tisch, and Thomas Peterffy contributed $50 million to a startup fund for The Messenger, a now defunct American news website.

Sports management

Harris began contemplating investing in sports after meeting senior Blackstone executive David Blitzer in 2008 while working in London. Those talks led to the pair forming an investment group that, in 2011, bought the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from Comcast Spectacor for $280 million. Other minor investors included Art Wrubel, Jason Levien, Adam Aron, Martin Geller, David Heller, James Lassiter, Marc Leder, Michael Rubin, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Erick Thohir. Harris presided over an era in 76ers history known as "The Process", in which the team tanked for better NBA draft lottery odds. Supporting a plan formed by general manager Sam Hinkie, the 76ers went 19–63 during the 2013–14 season, 18–64 in 2014–15, and 10–72 in 2015–16, the latter being the third-worst record in NBA history. The Process was unpopular with NBA executives and team owners, who lobbied league commissioner Adam Silver to step in due to the 76ers' poor performance affecting league revenue sharing. Harris would eventually agree to a suggestion by Silver to hire Jerry Colangelo, former owner of the Phoenix Suns, as team chairman in December 2015 with Hinkie stepping down in April 2016. 2014 draft selection and future NBA MVP Joel Embiid was among the players taken during the era, with the team having made five straight postseason appearances starting with the 2017–18 season. The 76ers were valuated at $4.13 billion by Sportico in 2023.

In 2013, Harris and Blitzer bought the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and their arena, the Prudential Center, from Jeff Vanderbeek for $320 million. The franchise was valuated at $1.17 billion by Sportico in 2023, with the Prudential Center grossing $85 million in 2022, ranking it among the highest-grossing arenas globally. He bought an 18% stake in the English football club Crystal Palace in December 2015, which is operated as a general partnership alongside Blitzer, Steve Parish, and John Textor. In September 2016, Harris and Blitzer bought the esports organizations Dignitas and Apex Gaming through the 76ers and merged them under the Dignitas brand. In September 2017, the pair founded Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) to consolidate their sports ventures. The company was valuated by Forbes at $11.86 billion in 2024. In addition to the 76ers and Devils, HBSE also owns the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League and the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League, HBSE Real Estate, the venture capital firm HBSE Ventures, and the event and marketing firm Elevate Sports Ventures. In June 2020, Harris and Blitzer bought a combined $140 million stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). In 2022, he headed a group consisting of Blitzer, airline executive Martin Broughton, politician and Olympic gold medalist Sebastian Coe, tennis player Serena Williams, and racing driver Lewis Hamilton that pursued a bid to purchase Chelsea of the Premier League before it was sold to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital for €4.25 billion ($4.5 billion). He also pursued a bid the same year for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) before it was sold to Steve Cohen for $2.4 billion. In 2023, Harris and Blitzer explored buying stakes in the English football club Manchester United.

In 2023, Harris headed a group that purchased the NFL's Washington Commanders and Commanders Field from Daniel Snyder for $6.05 billion, the highest price ever paid for a sports team. The group has 20 limited partners, including Danaher and Glenstone founder Mitchell Rales, Hall of Fame basketball player and entrepreneur Magic Johnson, and D.C. entrepreneur Mark Ein. Harris and Johnson had bid on the NFL's Denver Broncos the previous year before it was sold to a group headed by Walmart heirs Rob Walton and Greg Penner. He was the third limited partner of the Steelers since 2012 to become majority owner of another NFL team, joining Jimmy Haslam of the Cleveland Browns and David Tepper of the Carolina Panthers. Around the same time, he bought a minority stake in Joe Gibbs Racing by way of HBSE. Harris and Blitzer have invested in several youth sporting brands, forming Unrivaled Sports as a parent company in March 2024 with capital from The Chernin Group.

Harris employs general managers to operate his teams and venues, with diversity, equity, and inclusion, and player empowerment being promoted within his workplace culture. Harris also invests heavily in sports science and analytics, with 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey being a leading proponent of the field. In March 2020, Harris introduced plans to reduce salaries of HBSE, 76ers, and Devils employees making under $100,000 by 20% due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, which saw the NBA and NHL suspend operations for most of 2020. He reversed the decision within a week after receiving public criticism, including an effort by 76ers All-Star player Joel Embiid to cover the losses of those affected.

Properties

Personal life

Harris is Jewish. His father Jacob was an orthodontist and his mother Sylvia was a schoolteacher; he has a younger brother named Gabe. He married Marjorie Harris (née Rubin) in 1995. The couple met while attending Harvard Business School and have had three sons and two daughters together; Hannah, Stuart, Thomas, Pierce, and Bridget. Harris and fellow Chevy Chase native and businessman Mark Ein have been close friends since elementary school; they later attended Wharton and Harvard together and shared beach houses on Long Island during their time working on Wall Street.

Harris grew up a fan of local sports teams, attending Washington Redskins games at RFK Stadium and Washington Bullets games at the Capital Centre with his family. Harris received the Outstanding American Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013. He also competes in marathons and triathlons, finishing the 2010 New York City Marathon in 3:53:41 and the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon in 3:48:12. Harris threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals game in September 2023.

Harris was inducted into Kappa Beta Phi, a Wall Street fraternity, in 2011. In November 2017, he bought the Dommerich Mansion, a 21,000-square-foot townhouse in the Upper East Side of New York City, for $52 million. In July 2021, he bought a 9,100-square-foot mansion in Miami Beach from Marcelo Claure for $32 million. Harris frequently uses private helicopters to attend games. Due to a scheduling error, he once caused the cancellation of a youth soccer match being held at Newark's St. Benedict's Preparatory School, as the field is sometimes used as a helipad. His net worth was estimated in early 2024 to be $8.5 billion by Forbes and $10.2 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He held $2.54 billion in Apollo shares as of June 2023.

Philanthropy

Harris and his wife founded Harris Philanthropies, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, in 2014. He established the $5 million Harris Center for Precision Wellness at New York's Icahn Genomics Institute in 2015. Between 2015 and 2020, Harris donated a total of $3.5 million to the Philadelphia Police Athletic League chapter, $648,950 to the Republican Party, and $190,150 to the Democratic Party. He has been partnered with After-School All-Stars since 2016, providing a $1 million grant for six schools in Newark, Philadelphia, and Camden. Harris has also supported the University of Pennsylvania with several donations and sponsorships, including $1 million to the Penn Quakers wrestling program, forming the Harris Family Endowed Scholarship program for undergraduate students from the nearby Washington, D.C., area, and establishing the $10 million Harris Family Alternative Investments program. He has also participated in forums and panels hosted by organizations such as the Milken Institute, the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

Harris has contributed to socioeconomic programs in Israel through sports, including founding a youth basketball league known as the 48ers and funding a project integrating Ethiopian immigrants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he donated over $7 million worth of food and medical supplies to Philadelphia-based groups and organizations. HBSE committed $20 million to fight racial injustice in wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests. Harris donated $2 million the same year to The Bridgespan Group to expand their nonprofit programs in Philadelphia and Camden. In 2022, he established the $5 million Harris Family Fund for Sports Management and Alternative Investments program at Harvard Business School, as well as donating to the Reform Alliance, several Philadelphia-area homeless shelters, and mobile cancer clinics toward the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. The same year, he donated $1 million to Fund for Health, a health inequity collaboration fund by Penn Med and Wharton, with another million to Penn Med to promote student diversity in clinical medicine and biomedical research.

References

External links

  • HBSE profile
  • Harris Philanthropies

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Josh Harris (businessman) by Wikipedia (Historical)



 

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