John W. Henry
John W. Henry | |
---|---|
John Harrington | |
Owner of Liverpool Football Club | |
Assumed office October 15, 2010 | |
Preceded by | Tom Hicks and George N. Gillett Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born | John William Henry II September 13, 1949 Quincy, Illinois, U.S. |
Spouses | Mai K H Zimbleman
(m. 1980–1985)Peggy Sue Henry
(m. 1993–2008)Linda Pizzuti (m. 2009) |
Children | 3[1] |
Alma mater | Victor Valley High School Victor Valley College University of California |
Profession | Businessman |
John William Henry II (born September 13, 1949)[2] is an American businessman and the founder of John W. Henry & Company, an investment management firm. He is the principal owner of Liverpool Football Club, the Boston Red Sox, the Pittsburgh Penguins, The Boston Globe, and co-owner of RFK Racing. As of August 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth to be US$4 billion.[3]
Early life and education
Henry was born on September 13, 1949, in Quincy, Illinois.[2] His parents were soybean farmers, and he split his time growing up between Illinois and Arkansas.
At age 15, his asthmatic condition prompted his family to move to Apple Valley, California,[4] where Henry attended and graduated from Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California.[5]
Henry then attended but did not graduate from four separate colleges and universities, Victor Valley College,[6] and then University of California, Riverside, University of California, Irvine, and UCLA, where he majored in philosophy.
He attributes not graduating to the time he spent performing and touring with two bands, Elysian Fields and Hillary.[7][8]
Career
Henry started trading corn and soybean
When that test proved successful, he founded John W. Henry & Company in 1981,
JWH
JWH was established in 1981 and began taking retail clients in 1982. The firm's management methods make mechanical, non-discretionary trading decisions in response to systematic determinations of reversals in each market's direction, with the explicit intention of precluding not only
In March 2006, Boston magazine estimated Henry's net worth at $1.1 billion, but also reported that his firm had experienced recent difficulties.[11]
On November 9, 2012, the firm announced that it would stop managing clients' money by December 31, 2012, and Henry confirmed that total assets under the firm's management had fallen from $2.5 billion in 2006 to less than $100 million as of late 2012.[12][13]
Sports ownership
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "John W. Henry" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2018) |
Henry grew up a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, especially their star Stan Musial. After acquiring his fortune, his first foray into professional sports was in purchasing a Minor League Baseball team, the Tucson Toros of the Pacific Coast League, in 1989.[14] He was also one of the founders of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a winter league in Florida composed of retired major league players.
Henry co-owned the winning team in the 1989–90 season, the West Palm Beach Tropics, managed by Dick Williams, former manager of the Boston Red Sox's 1967 team, known as the "Impossible Dream" team.
In 1990, Henry sold his interest in the team, and the league went out of business the following year. The same year, he negotiated to purchase the
Henry entered
Fenway Sports Group
In 2001, Henry partnered with
In 2009, the company made its first foray into European sports with an unsuccessful bid for the French Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille.[17]
NESV formally announced its name change to Fenway Sports Group in March 2011.[18]
Boston Red Sox
Henry, as principal owner and Werner, as chairman, assembled a front office team headed up by Larry Lucchino with the express goal of "breaking the Curse of the Bambino." He also hired baseball sabermetrics pioneer Bill James, whose work became widely known following the publication of Moneyball in 2003. Henry accomplished his championship goal in the 2004 World Series, against his former childhood favorite Cardinals, and beat the Cardinals again in 2013.
The team won the 2007 World Series against a franchise with which Henry had pre-expansion involvement, the Rockies, and the 2018 World Series against the Dodgers. Henry is also responsible for saving Fenway Park from the wrecking ball.[citation needed] The previous Red Sox owners had planned on building a new Fenway Park next door, but Henry chose to keep and renovate (including new seats over the Green Monster) the current Fenway Park, which celebrated its centennial in 2012.
In August 2017, Henry said the team would lead a campaign to change the name of
Liverpool Football Club
In October 2010 the
After losing around £154 million on the pressured sale of their debt-ridden club, Hicks and Gillett announced that they would sue co-owners and creditors for at least $1.6 billion for the "extraordinary swindle" they suffered. In January 2013, Hicks and Gillett had lost a Court of Appeal case and agreed to drop the suit.[27][28]
On February 26, 2012, Liverpool won the
Henry attributed parting company with Dalglish as being unrelated to failing to win the FA Cup or the Suarez case,[32]), but a product of the club's poor league performance in the second half of the 2011–12 season.[33]
In April 2021, Liverpool were announced as a founding member of the European Super League, which would have effectively ended the pyramid system of European football and placed Liverpool in a closed league without prospects for meritocratic relegation and promotion. Liverpool and the five other English clubs involved backed out within two days after a strong backlash. This prompted Henry to issue an official apology to Liverpool fans, taking responsibility for the events that had occurred.[37][38]
NASCAR
In 2007, Henry's Fenway Sports Group bought a 50% stake in
iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations
In September 2004 Henry and David Kaemmer founded
Newspaper ownership
In the predawn hours of August 3, 2013, both The Boston Globe and The New York Times carried stories on their web sites reporting that Henry had agreed to purchase the former along with the Telegram & Gazette newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts, and related New England media properties for $70 million in cash from The New York Times Company, which paid $1.1 billion for The Globe in 1993.[40] The Globe's story described Henry as "a personally shy businessman with a history of bold bets."[40] The Times story quoted Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy as confirming the sale deal.[41]
The stories noted that Henry had initially been among a group of partners who had joined in bidding on The Globe properties, but ended up agreeing to acquire them individually. However, The Times story reported him saying: "In coming days there will be announcements concerning those joining me in this community commitment and effort."[41]
After the announcement, the ownership of The San Diego Union-Tribune (then known as "U-T San Diego") alleged that it had outbid Henry for The Globe but that the management of The Times Company had not fairly handled the process, to the detriment of Times Company shareholders.[42]
In 2014, Henry sold the Worcester Telegram & Gazette to Halifax Media Group, which had previously purchased 16 former New York Times Company newspapers in 2011.[43]
Harvard Book Store
In December 2021, Henry became an investor and owner of Harvard Book Store, an independent book store based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[44]
Awards and honors
- Four-time World Series champion as principal owner of the Boston Red Sox.
Personal life
Henry enjoys playing baseball simulation games, including Out of the Park Baseball.[45]
In popular culture
Henry was briefly portrayed by Arliss Howard in the 2011 film Moneyball, which follows Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane and his quest to build a winning team in 2002. Towards the end of the film, Beane travels to Boston's Fenway Park where he meets with Henry, who wants Beane to become the new GM of the Red Sox.
The film depicts Beane turning down a five-year, $12.5 million contract with the Boston Red Sox and returning to the Oakland Athletics, but adds that the Red Sox, despite failing to hire Beane, implemented many of his "Moneyball" ideas and went on to win the 2004 World Series, marking the first Red Sox championship in 86 years.[46]
References
- ^ "On Top of the Globe". Boston. No. June 2017. p. 63. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "John Henry". IMDb. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- ^ "John Henry". Forbes. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ^ "John Henry – Red Sox Owner". Awesome Stories. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ Steve Wulf (September 26, 2011). "How John Henry built his sports empire". ESPN. ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ "John W. Henry is featured in Financial World Wall Street 100 Article at". Streetstories.com. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ "John W. Henry: A self-made millionaire who brought glory days back to Boston Red Sox". Goal.com. October 6, 2010. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ Ross, Casey; Borchers, Callum. "John W. Henry, soft-spoken businessman with an appetite for risk". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ "TEN Facts about John W Henry and NESV". live4liverpool.com. October 6, 2010. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ "John W. Henry's House in Boca Raton, FL". Celebrity House Gossip. May 26, 2011. Archived from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ "50 Wealthiest Bostonians". Boston Magazine. March 2006. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007 – via web.archive.org.
- ^ Zuckerman, Gregory (November 13, 2012). "Henry to Exit Money Game". Wall Street Journal.
- BusinessWeek. March 20, 2006. Archived from the originalon March 17, 2006. Retrieved August 11, 2006.
- ^ "Liverpool future looks bright under John W Henry". October 13, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ Wulf, Steve (September 26, 2011). "The (dis)passion of John Henry". ESPN.
- ^ Gave, Keith (December 12, 1990). "Poor decisions ruined St. Petersburg's NHL bid". The Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "Liverpool FC: Fans go wild as club gets new owner John W. Henry after days of turmoil". Daily Mirror. October 16, 2010.
- ^ "New England Sports Ventures Changes Name To Fenway Sports Group". Sports Business Journal. March 22, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ Chavez, Chris (August 17, 2017). "John Henry Says Red Sox Will Lead Effort To Re-Name Yawkey Way". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
- ^ "Yawkey Way signs come down outside Fenway Park". Boston.com. AP. May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
- ^ "Revealed: how new Liverpool owner's wife pestered her husband to buy". The Independent. October 18, 2010. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- Independent.co.uk. October 23, 2011. Archivedfrom the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- ^ "The Times & The Sunday Times". Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- ^ Conn, David (June 5, 2009). "No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glazers' – David Conn". The Guardian. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- ^ Echo, Liverpool (May 28, 2010). "Tom Hicks – You couldn't make it up (well actually, Tom can)". Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- ^ "Football News – all the latest breaking football stories – Mirror Online". www.mirrorfootball.co.uk. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- ^ Sachin Nakran (January 11, 2013). "Tom Hicks and George Gillett drop allegations against Liverpool directors". The Guardian.
- ^ "NESV complete Reds takeover". Sky Sports. October 15, 2010.
- ^ Hansen, Alan (May 17, 2012). "Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool sacking unfair – Alan Hansen". BBC Sport. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ George Ankers (May 18, 2012). "Dalglish's demise the latest misjudgement in FSG's Liverpool reign of error". Goal.com.
- ^ "Brendan Rodgers will not be set Champions League qualification target". The Guardian. London. July 20, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ "Sir Alex Ferguson says Suárez/Evra case contributed to Dalglish exit". The Guardian. London. July 20, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ James Pearce (July 26, 2012). "Liverpool FC principal owner John W Henry says Kenny Dalglish would have been sacked even if the club had won the FA Cup". Liverpool Echo.
- ^ "Brendan Rodgers: Why Liverpool sacked their manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ "Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp confirmed as manager on £15m Anfield deal". Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ "Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp appointment a real show of ambition from FSG". This Is Anfield. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ "Liverpool owner apologises to fans for ESL". BBC Sport. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- ^ "John W Henry's message to Liverpool supporters". Liverpool F.C. April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- Boston Globe. February 10, 2007.
- ^ a b Healy, Beth (August 3, 2013). "Red Sox owner in deal to purchase Globe". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ "San Diego bidder questions Globe buy". Boston Herald. August 4, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ Sutner, Shaun (May 22, 2014). "Halifax Media of Florida to buy Telegram & Gazette". Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ Timeout:Boston:July 15th, 2022:Boston:News:Harvard Book Store is coming to Boston
- ^ "Out of the Park Baseball 16: Manager Mode Details and More". operationsports.com. February 13, 2015. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
- ^ "Moneyball script at IMSDb". IMSDB. IMDB. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
External links
- John W. Henry on Twitter
- John W. Henry & Company Inc. Archived February 11, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- Street Stories profile
- John W. Henry at IMDb
- Forbes profile