Principal Owner
John W. Henry is in his 22nd season as Principal Owner of the Boston Red Sox. Since becoming a steward of the franchise in 2002, the club has won a Major League-best four World Series Championships, claimed five American League East titles, and made 11 postseason appearances. In the 21 years from 2002-22, the Red Sox recorded the fourth-highest winning percentage in baseball (.551), notably setting a franchise record with 108 regular-season wins in 2018.
In addition to the club's on-field success, Mr. Henry and his partners have overseen the preservation and protection of Fenway Park, the oldest operating ballpark in Major League Baseball. Since 2002, the ownership group has invested over $400 million in improvements, ensuring the ballpark's viability for future generations.
Fulfilling a pledge to be active and engaged members of the Boston and New England community, Mr. Henry and his partners founded and funded the Red Sox Foundation. Since its creation in 2002, the Foundation has grown to become the largest team charity in Major League Baseball and one of the fastest growing in professional sports, earning the "Best Sports Charity" award in 2009 and the "Commissioner's Award for Philanthropic Excellence" in 2010 and 2019.
Mr. Henry takes an active role in league matters and currently serves as Chairman of Major League Baseball's Business Board. He is also an Ex Officio member of its Executive Council and is a member of the Committee on Economic Reform and the Investment Committee.
Prior to the purchase of the Red Sox, Mr. Henry was chairman and sole owner of the Florida Marlins from 1999 through 2001 and a limited partner of the New York Yankees from 1991 through 2003.
Mr. Henry's 34 years of experience in baseball ownership began in 1989 as chairman and majority owner of the Tucson Toros of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He was also one of the founders of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a Florida winter league composed of retired Major League players. He co-owned one of its teams, the West Palm Beach Tropics, for its sole season from 1989 to 1990. The team was managed by former Red Sox "Impossible Dream" manager, Dick Williams.
Mr. Henry is a founder and the principal owner of Fenway Sports Group (FSG), a global sports, marketing, media, entertainment, and real estate company anchored by three iconic clubs, the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. In addition to his role as control person for all three teams, he is a member of the National Hockey League's Strategic Planning & Innovation Committee and also serves as Director of NASCAR's RFK Racing, of which FSG owns a significant stake.
Independent of Fenway Sports Group, Mr. Henry and partner Dave Kaemmer founded iRacing.com in 2004, a company that has grown to become the world's premier motorsport racing simulation portal, offering more racing disciplines than any other online platform.
Outside of his career in sports, Mr. Henry has extensive experience as a founder, manager, and investor. A pioneering trader of commodities futures, for more than 30 years Mr. Henry served as chairman of the John W. Henry & Company, Inc., a global investment management firm he founded in 1981.
In October of 2013, Mr. Henry purchased the Boston Globe, becoming the third owner of the largest newspaper in New England. A year later, he assumed the role of publisher, the newspaper's ninth in its history.
Mr. Henry has served on the Board of Directors of the Futures Industry Association (FIA), the National Association of Futures Trading Advisors, and the Managed Futures Trade Association. He was elected to the FIA's Futures Hall of Fame as a recognized leader in alternative asset financial product innovation.
Mr. Henry has served as a board member of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and is a former Trustee of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boca Raton Community Hospital, and a former board member of the Library of Congress Trust Fund.
Mr. Henry has received honorary doctorate degrees from Northeastern University and Boston University. He has also received the Charles Hamilton Houston Justice Award, the Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award in New England, and a lifetime achievement award from Alternative Investment News.
Born in Quincy, Illinois, Mr. Henry spent most of his childhood on the family farm in Forrest City, Arkansas, where his father raised soybeans, corn, and wheat. A Cardinals fan who grew up listening to Harry Caray, Jack Buck, and Joe Garagiola on the radio, Mr. Henry was nine when he saw his first Major League game at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis - the very city where he would see his own Boston Red Sox win the World Series in 2004.