Pat Bowlen
Bowlen in 2010
|
|
| Denver Broncos | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Principal owner |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth: | February 18, 1944 |
| Place of birth: | Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Campion Jesuit |
| College: | Oklahoma |
| Career history | |
| As executive: | |
|
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
Patrick Dennis Bowlen (born February 18, 1944) is the majority owner of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). The Bowlen Family, including his two brothers John Bowlen and Bill Bowlen, and sister Marybeth Bowlen, purchased the team from Edgar Kaiser in 1984. He served as the Broncos CEO from his purchase of the club in 1984 until July 2014, when he stepped down as Broncos' CEO due to the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Pat Bowlen was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce in 2015.
Bowlen was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, the son of Arvella (née Woods) and Paul Dennis Bowlen, who became a millionaire in the Canadian oil business, founding Regent Drilling as a wildcatter. The oil company is now owned by Pat's brother John. Bowlen is Catholic and his team’s charity raised more than $1 million recently for the Catholic Capuchin order’s ministries to Denver’s poor and homeless. He attended Campion Jesuit Catholic High School and later earned degrees in business (1965) and law (1968) from the University of Oklahoma. The younger Bowlen became wealthy in his own right by becoming a successful lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta. He also worked as an executive for his father's company and as a real estate developer and had major investments in the mining industry.
Bowlen is an initiated member of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity. He was initiated by the University of Oklahoma, Beta Omicron chapter in 1963. He is a member of the bar association and law society of Alberta, Canada. Bowlen is also one of the largest donors to the University of Denver.
From 1999 to 2008, Bowlen and the Broncos were involved in several legal battles against one-time owner Edgar Kaiser. In 1998, Bowlen agreed to sell retired football legend John Elway a share in the team. When Bowlen let the existence of the offer slip out to Kaiser while both were at the 1999 Bohemian Grove, Kaiser sued, claiming a breach of contract. Kaiser asserted that he had a right of first refusal if any deal is made involving franchise ownership. In 2004, a jury ruled in favor of Kaiser and a federal judge decreed that Kaiser was entitled to purchase back 10% of the Broncos using the identical purchase terms offered to Elway. Bowlen appealed the original verdict that ruled in favor of Kaiser and won in 2008, as the appellate court ruled that the structure of the Bowlen-Elway deal did not violate the original right of first refusal agreement.
...
Wikipedia