The Jacksonville Jaguars‘ short history in the NFL has been a very mixed one. After going to two AFC Conference Championship games in their first five seasons, they had to wait nearly 20 years for another trip that deep into the postseason. Since Shahid Khan took over as the Jaguars’ owner, Jacksonville’s gone to the NFL playoffs just twice, but they have their eyes on trying to become a new powerhouse in the AFC.
Who Is the Jacksonville Jaguars Owner?
Khan is one of the newer owners in the NFL after buying the Jaguars in 2012. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Khan’s rise to become one of the 200 richest people in the world is often viewed as the epitome of the American Dream. Khan moved to the United States at age 16 in 1967, where he studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Having worked at Flex-N-Gate while at and after graduating from the school, Khan started the company “Bumper Works” in 1978. He then purchased Flex-N-Gate in 1980, going on to be the sole supplier for Toyota by 1989. Since that time, the company has grown from a value of $17 million to $8.89 billion as of 2020.
Khan purchased the Jaguars in 2012 for $770 million. He originally tried to purchase the St. Louis Rams in 2010 but was unsuccessful after minority owner Stan Kroenke exercised a clause in his deal to match any proposed bid. Khan became the first member of an ethnic minority to own an NFL team. Additionally, he’s just one of three NFL owners to be born outside the United States of America.
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Alongside owning Flex-N-Gate and the Jaguars, Khan is also the principal owner of Fulham Football Club in England. Khan purchased Fulham F.C. in 2013 from Mohamed Al-Fayed for an amount estimated to be between $225-300 million. In 2019, Khan and his son, Tony Khan, began the professional wrestling company All Elite Wrestling, which is run by the younger Khan on a day-to-day basis.
Tony is one of Shahid’s two children. Shahid also has a daughter by his wife, Ann Carlson Khan. The pair were married in 1977, while both of Khan’s children became naturalized American citizens in 1991. Khan currently owns a house in Naples, Florida, an apartment in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, and a superyacht called Kismet.
What Is Khan’s Net Worth?
Khan’s real-time net worth as of Jan. 20, 2022, is $11.7 billion, per Forbes. He currently sits 148th on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list and was 55th on the Forbes 400 list in 2022. Additionally, Khan ranks as the seventh-wealthiest of the NFL ownership groups.
How Much Are the Jaguars Worth?
While Khan is one of the wealthiest owners in the league, the Jaguars are considered to be one of the lowest-valued franchises. According to Forbes, the Jaguars are valued at $3.475 billion, the fifth-lowest franchise valuation entering the 2022 season.
The Jaguars’ valuation increased from $2.615 billion in 2021 to $3.475 million heading into last season. Despite that increase in value, Jacksonville dropped three spots on the list of highest-valued NFL franchises.
History of Khan Owning the Jaguars
When Khan purchased the Jaguars in 2012, they hadn’t been to the playoffs since the 2007 season. Additionally, they had only made the playoffs twice in the previous 12 years after making it four times in their first five years. In his first season as owner, the Jaguars went 2-14, finished last in the AFC South, and second to last in the NFL.
In his first five years as an owner, the Jaguars would not win more than five games in a single season, with a combined record of 17-63. Years of selecting high in the NFL draft would seemingly pay off, however, as Jacksonville went 10-6 in the 2017 NFL season. They would win the division before defeating the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers to head to the AFC Conference Championship Game.
Unfortunately, the Jaguars would narrowly miss out on going to their first Super Bowl, losing 24-20 to the New England Patriots. Jacksonville would fail to back up that performance, winning a combined 15 games in the next four seasons and selecting first overall in both 2020 and 2021.
The 2022 season saw the Jaguars recover from 2-6 to win seven of their next nine games and win the AFC South at 9-8. Their return to the NFL playoffs is just their second such appearance under the ownership of Khan.