Jerral Wayne “Jerry” Jones is the owner of National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys and an American billionaire. He is also the most hated NFL team owner in the league and American sport in general.
Childhood
Jerral Wayne Jones was born on October 13th, 1942, in Los Angeles, California. His parents were J.W. “Pat” Jones and Arminta Pearl Clark Jones. They owned and operated two branches of Pat’s Super Market. When he was three years old, the family moved back to North Little Rock, Arkansas, where he grew up. Jones attended North Little Rock High School, where he played as a running back for the school football team. He graduated high school in 1960. His father then got a job as a chairman of Modern Security Life Insurance Co in Springfield, Missouri, and the family moved again.
College
Jones enrolled at the University of Arkansas. In 1964, the football team won the national championship and Jones was a co-captain. He graduated from college in 1965.
Career
After several failed ventures, including borrowing one million dollars from Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters union to open a string of Shakey’s Pizza Parlor restaurants in Missouri, and working for his father, Jones struck gold with Jones Oil and Land Lease. He founded the company in 1967 for the purpose of prospecting for oil and gas in Arkansas. The company was so successful that he managed to buy Dallas Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million from H.R. “Bum” Bright. He immediately fired the coach and brought his university teammate Jimmy Johnson. Soon, he fired the general manager as well and assumed his role in the team. Despite all the critics, Cowboys became one of the best teams in the NFL under his leadership.
Personal Life
Jones is married to Eugenia “Gene” Jones, with whom he has three children, Stephen, Charlotte, and Jerry, Jr. All three of them work in the Dallas Cowboys organization. Stephen is a chief operating officer/executive vice president/director of player personnel and Charlotte is executive vice president and chief brand officer. Jerry Jr. is chief sales and marketing officer/vice president.
Jerry Jones Net Worth 2023
Most of Jones’s wealth comes from owning the Dallas Cowboys, who are named the world’s most valuable sports organization at $5 billion by Forbes. They held that spot since 2016 when they overtook Real Madrid. The team draws $500 million in revenue per year, with an operating income of $226 million. Jones Oil and Land Lease adds to his wealth, as are numerous real estates and companies he also owns. Jerry Jones’s net worth in 2023 is estimated at $8.1 billion.
