Buffalo Bills: How Wealthy is Owner Terry Pegula?

According to Forbes, Buffalo Bills’ owner Terry Pegula is the 17th richest team owner across all major American sports.

Just a couple of years ago, the future of the Buffalo Bills’ franchise was up in the air and many fans started to panic when a potential move came about. Then Terry Pegula came along and saved the Buffalo Bills entire organization and fanbase from their worst nightmare.

In 2011, Terry Pegula purchased Hockey Western New York LLC — which is the holding company that owns the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bandits — from Tom Golisano, Dan DiPofi and Larry Quinn for a total of $189 million. He proceeded to bring back the Rochester Americans to serve as the Sabres’ AHL affiliate.

Three years later, Pegula found it difficult to sit back and watch the Buffalo Bills move to another city (especially since it was… ahem.. Toronto, CA). In 2014, just two days after a Buffalo Bills’ victory over the Chicago Bears to start the season 1-0, it was announced that Terry Pegula had won the bid to purchase the Bills with his wife — Kim Pegula.

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The deal was officially closed on October 10, 2014.

Together, the couple unified a city that was almost broken.

With a winning bid of — what was reported as — $1.4 billion all in cash, it makes you wonder how much Terry Pegula is really worth and how he ranks amongst other sports team owners.

First off, let’s look at how wealthy he is. With most of his wealth rooting from business interests in natural gas development and real estate — including professional sports described above — Terry Pegula is worth an estimated $4.1 billion.

According to Forbes, Pegula is the 17th wealthiest sports team owner across all major American sports. When you consider all of the sports team owners in America, that number is quite surprising. The 18th wealthiest is Jeremy Jacobs ($4 billion), owner of the Boston Bruins.

Related Story: Terry and Kim Pegula Saved the City of Buffalo

Here’s a look at all 16 owners that are wealthier than Terry Pegula:

16. Charles Dolan ($4.5 billion) – Owner of New York Knicks, New York Rangers

15. Dan Gilbert ($4.6 billion) – Owner of Cleveland Cavaliers

14. Charles Johnson ($5 billion) – Owner of San Francisco Giants

13. Robert Kraft ($5.1 billion) – Owner of New England Patriots

12. Jerry Jones ($5.2 billion) – Owner of Dallas Cowboys

11. Ted Lerner ($5.3 billion) – Owner of Washington Nationals

10. Richard DeVos & Family ($5.4 billion) – Owner of Orlando Magic

9. Michael & Marian Ilitch & Family ($5.8 billion) – Owner of Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings

8. Ann Walton Kroenke ($6.2 billion) – Owner of Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche

7. Shahid Khan ($6.9 billion) – Owner of Jacksonville Jaguars

6. Micky Arison ($7.2 billion) – Owner of Miami Heat

5. Stephen Ross ($7.4 billion) – Owner of Miami Dolphins

4. Stanley Kroenke ($7.4 billion) – Owner of LA Rams, Arsenal FC, Colorado Rapids

3. Philip Anschutz ($10.9 billion) – Owner of LA Kings, LA Galaxy

2. Paul Allen ($18.9 billion) – Owner of Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers

1. Steve Balmer ($27.5 billion) – Owner of LA Clippers

Next: 6 Players the Bills Should Consider in 2017 First Round

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