I’m a football owner who grew up in poverty and sold golf balls aged six, now I’m worth billions and I work with J-Lo
KEVIN NAGLE grew up in poverty and started selling golf balls aged just six.
Now he is a multi-billionaire who works with Jennifer Lopez and Shaquille O’Neal.
And the American has become the owner of an English football club in his latest venture.
Nagle, 68, was born in Minnesota but grew up with his two older sisters and their single mother in California.
The family struggled financially, constantly living in poverty and being visited by debt collectors with the constant and real threat of electricity being cut off or even eviction.
And aged six, he showed his business mind with a genius idea for his first job.
Nagle would find lost golf balls, clean them and then sell them to players towards the end of their rounds – although initially he lacked sales on the 18th hole for the first six weeks before moving to the 14th and 15th tees.
The $4 he roughly made each day went straight to his mother.
Nagle – an accomplished baseballer until a horror injury saw him lose confidence and highly-successful wrestler – went on to have a whole host of other jobs growing up.
That included gardening, cooking burgers, washing plates, bartending and even filling up vehicles with petrol.
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS AND BONUSES NEW CUSTOMERS
He got his first job in finance in 1980 with Los Angeles-based investment company EF Hutton – but found it “boring”.
But the entrepreneur soon realised there was big money to be earned in the health industry, eventually co-founding his own pharmaceutical firm that was sold for £1.8billion.
Nagle also owns The Nagle Company – a real estate firm with retail, entertainment, offices and residential developments – as well as various venture capital companies.
But it was in sport that he made many of his billions.
He told Comstock’s Magazine: “We concluded that the fundamentals of success are the same whether you’re playing a team sport or managing a corporation — it’s the obsession for perfection.”
TERRIERS TAKEOVER
Dad-of-two Nagle was a major investor in the Sacramento Kings NBA team, selling his shares for a reported £6.7bn.
He is also CEO and chairman of Sacramento Republic FC, desperately trying to get them into the MLS.
And in 2017, the businessman stumped up cash to invest in the NRG Esports company alongside the likes of J-Lo, O’Neal, Alex Rodriguez, Marshawn Lynch and Michael Strahan.
But in 2023, the philanthropist – whose total value is unclear – spread his influence across the Pond to make his first big move into the British market when he bought Championship side Huddersfield Town from Dean Hoyle.
The takeover was completed in June 2023 and Nagle said: “I am extremely humbled and excited to be the new steward of Huddersfield Town.
“A special thanks to the wonderful Town supporters who have also been so supportive and patient. I know how deeply they care for this club, and I do not intend to let them down.”
And he will be hoping he can replicate his success at the John Smith’s Stadium by linking up with Neil Warnock to lead the Terriers back into the Premier League.