John W. Henry

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John W. Henry

Owner of the Boston Red Sox
Birth: September 13, 1949
Quincy, Illinois
Ownership: 2002Present (with Tom Werner)
Predecessor: JRY Trust
Successor: Incumbent
Championships: 2004 World Series
2007 World Series
General Manager(s): Mike Port (Interim, Mar.-Nov. 2002)
Theo Epstein (2002-2005, 2006-Present)
Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer (Interim, Oct. 2005-Jan. 2006)
Manager(s): Grady Little (2002-2003)
Terry Francona (2004-Present)

John William Henry II (born September 13, 1949 in Quincy, Illinois), a commodity trading advisor manager who founded John W. Henry & Company (JWH). He is also the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing. In March 2006, Boston Magazine estimated his net worth at $860 million, but noted that his company had recently experienced difficulties.[1] In May 2007, reports in the Wall Street Journal[2] and Bloomberg noted further difficulties with the firm.

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Henry's parents were farmers and he split his time growing up between Illinois and Arkansas. At the age of 15 he suffered testicular cancer prompting the family to move to Apple Valley, California. He graduated from Victor Valley Senior High in Victorville, California. He attended Victor Valley Junior College in Victorville, California, the University of California at Riverside, the University of California at Irvine and UCLA, majoring in philosophy but failed to obtain his degree due in part to traveling with rock and roll bands called Elysian Fields and Hillary.

Henry inherited the family farm in Forrest City, Arkansas upon his father's death in late 1975. [3] Henry started trading primarily corn and soybeans to learn the basics of hedging the changing prices in these commodities. In 1976, a commodities broker at Reynolds Securities asked him to advise other farmers, but he declined. However, after spending a summer in Norway with his first wife, Henry developed a mechanical trading system based on trends and the trend following approach. He then founded JWH in 1981 in Newport Beach, California. In 1989, JWH moved to Westport, Connecticut and Henry moved to Boca Raton, Florida. Two years later, JWH established a second office in Boca Raton.

JWH was established in 1981 and began taking retail clients in 1982. For approximately 20 years, JWH was known as the largest retail alternative asset money management firm in the world measured by assets under management. However, after poor investment performance in 2005 through mid-2007, assets under management fell markedly from a high of $3.8 billion in 2005 to approximately $500 million in mid-2007. The firm employs methods of investing based on systematic, mechanical trend-following, meaning that the company does not allow for human interaction based on so-called fundamentals or human emotions.[4] On May 29, 2007, Bloomberg News reported that Henry's assets under management had fallen by 80% after losing 33% over the prior two years. On the same day, the Wall Street Journal reported that the firm was in talks about affiliating with that of another investment manager, but that no transaction is imminent.

John W. Henry grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan, especially of their star Stan Musial. After acquiring his fortune, his first foray into professional sports was in purchasing a AAA minor league team - the Tucson Toros of the Pacific Coast League in 1989. 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 winningest team in 1989-1990 - the West Palm Beach Tropics managed by former Boston Red Sox Impossible Dream (1967) manager, Dick Williams. He sold his interest in 1990 and the league went out of business the following year. In 1990, Henry negotiated to purchase the Orlando Magic NBA team, for a short time was the lead general for an expansion team which became the Colorado Rockies, headed a group attempting to land an NHL expansion bid for South Florida which ended up going to Tampa Bay, pre-dating South Florida's more successful NHL expansion bid soon after by Wayne Huizenga. Subsequently, Henry negotiated to buy the Miami Heat and later the New Jersey Nets.

Henry entered Major League Baseball with his purchase of a small interest in the New York Yankees in 1991. Henry became the sole owner of the Florida Marlins in 1999, purchasing the Major League club for a reported $158,000,000, which he ironically bought from Huizenga. In January of 2002 Henry sold the Marlins in a multi-franchise deal to Jeffrey Loria then owner of the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). Simultaneously, Henry led a purchase of the Boston Red Sox with partners Tom Werner and the New York Times Company from the Yawkey Trust headed by John Harrington. Henry, as principal owner and, Werner, as chairman, assembled a front office team headed up by Larry Lucchino with the express goal of winning a championship, a feat accomplished in the 2004 World Series, and again in 2007.

Henry and Werner established New England Sports Ventures in 2002. The company owns the Boston Red Sox, 80% of the New England Sports Network (which has the highest television ratings in major league baseball and also carries the NHL's Boston Bruins), Fenway Park, Fenway Sports Group - a sports marketing and management firm, and various real estate properties surrounding Fenway Park.

In 2007, Henry's Fenway Sports Group bought a 50% stake in the Jack Roush's Roush Fenway Racing stock car racing team. [5] The team's Matt Kenseth won the Auto Club 500 at the California Speedway in February 2007. Henry also co-founded a motor racing simulation company for professionals called iRacing.com.

"Fielding a dream", Cover story, CME magazine, July 2005, pp. 8. Retrieved on 2006-09-25. 

  1. ^ 50 Wealthiest Bostonians Boston Magazine, March 2006, accessed July 6, 2007
  2. ^ The Wall Street Journal "John Henry in a Slump" by Gregory Zuckerman, May 29, 2007
  3. ^ http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/04/19/sox_owners_success_driven_by_numbers/
  4. ^ "Curse Of The Bambino On The Trading Floor?", News: Analysis & Commentary, BusinessWeek, 2006-03-20. Retrieved on 2006-08-11. 
  5. ^ Red Sox owner buys 50% stake in Roush Racing Boston Globe, 2007-02-10. Retrieved on February 10, 2007

Preceded by
JRY Trust
Owner of the Boston Red Sox
2002
Succeeded by
incumbent
Roush Fenway Racing
Nextel Cup drivers David Ragan (#6) | Greg Biffle (#16) | Matt Kenseth (#17) | Jamie McMurray (#26) | Carl Edwards (#99)
Craftsman Truck Series drivers Joey Clanton (#09) | Colin Braun (#6) | Erik Darnell (#99)
Development drivers T. J. Bell | Peter Shepherd | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Partnerships and affiliations Baker Curb Racing | Robby Gordon Motorsports | Wood Brothers/JTG Racing | Yates Racing
Other Jack Roush | Robbie Reiser | John W. Henry | Mark Martin | Roush Racing: Driver X | Fenway Sports Group
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